FijiFirst Member of Parliament Faiyaz Koya says Deputy Prime Minister Professor Biman Prasad’s comment where he labeled the party as irrelevant is unwarranted and uncalled for.
Speaking to FijiLive, Koya said that he does not think the comment has any basis because majority of the people voted for FijiFirst and the point is that the Opposition holds 26 seats in Parliament, which is not a small number.
Koya said the FijiFirst Party is not irrelevant and this was reflected when each Opposition MP stood in Parliament to talk about what the Government intended to do in the next fiscal year.
The former Minister for Trade has called on the Coalition Government to get on with the job, stop complaining, stop moaning about what the FijiFirst Government did in the last decade or so; and show their hands and what it has done in the last seven months.
“I think the Government side has continued to use inflammatory statements to try and inflame things, but they need to understand that as the Government in waiting for the last eight years, they need to get on with the work which is governing for the country.”
“People do not want to know what we did. They know what the FijiFirst Party did and how it grew the economy to such a state that we were able to sustain debt levels.”
Koya has also criticised Government’s inaction in calming investor confidence and says there is nothing in the budget that would grow the economy.
He claims there are no incentives for foreign investment and this Government is scaring investors away.
“The fact that he can say that we are getting irrelevant, it errs him that we are relevant. It errs him that the Opposition is fighting tooth and nail in Parliament.”
“They might have three extra seats in Parliament, but it errs him that we are actually making a difference being in Parliament.”
Koya said people are not crazy and they listen and watch Parliament sittings and much of what Prof Prasad says does not hold any water.
He said that the Deputy Prime Minister has a habit of plucking figures from thin air and saying whatever he wants in Parliament because he wants to.
“Most of us in the Opposition are kind of sick and tired of him and his rhetoric, complaints and moaning every other day,” Koya added.
FijiLive has reached out to the Deputy Prime Minister for comments on the matter.
