Jone Usamate on fijivillage Straight Talk With Vijay Narayan

With the issue of corporal punishment being discussed widely in many circles, Opposition MP Jone Usamate says that we should be mindful that Fiji has signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and it can have an impact on us.

The Fijian Teachers Association, during their Annual General Meeting, had called for the reintroduction of corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure for students with deteriorating behaviour.

While speaking on fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan, Usamate says his generation would believe that the removal of corporal punishment is the sole reason as to why students' behaviour has deteriorated.

He says corporal punishment can sometimes emotionally scar us, and its impact can have ramifications on the rest of our lives.

He also says for Christians, the Bible tells us to use the rod, but use it sparingly; however people should understand that there is a distinction between anger and discipline.

The Opposition MP says the Education Ministry should promote good practices of maintaining student discipline, as he understands that there are some families that never hit their children, but the children are well disciplined.

Usamate says he cannot really say if his children were more disciplined than he was because of the different experiences they had.

He adds that the discussion on corporal punishment is also being talked about in religious circles, but we will need the advice of experts in this area.

Opposition MP Jone Usamate says former FijiFirst party’s decline partly reflected how people’s perceptions and expectations evolved and has stressed that political parties must evolve to remain relevant, as expectations rise with time in office.

He highlighted this while speaking on fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan where he says the former FijiFirst Party stood for equality and security.

Usamate says that message resonated with a lot of people who felt safe and secure in that environment but there was a lot of talk about freedom and governance, however, those issues still exist in our society today.

The former FijiFirst Minister says the party’s decline partly reflected how people’s perceptions and expectations evolved.

When asked about the impact of former Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and former General Secretary and Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum’s departure on the party, Usamate says Bainimarama had brought in the majority of votes and most of the people who entered parliament with him.

He says some of them got 1,000 votes or less than that and got in on the number of votes that Bainimarama got.

He says Bainimarama’s departure created a vacuum because many Fijians looked up to him for stabilising the country after 2006 and for his development work.

Usamate adds that Sayed-Khaiyum’s decision not to enter parliament, followed by his eventual exit, further challenged the party, but they continued, with a new Leader of the Opposition appointed, and had to keep on battling with the challenges as they arose.

Opposition MP and former FijiFirst Minister Jone Usamate has revealed that although members of the party were given stints to act as Prime Minister, but under their party’s constitution, power was concentrated in the hands of the two founding members – Voreqe Bainimarama and Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.

He highlighted this while responding to questions on fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan about succession planning in FijiFirst, following its eventual deregistration.

He was asked whether there had been any moves to change the party’s succession planning, as concerns had been raised that Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was wielding too much power and, at times, appeared out of touch with the majority of voters.

Usamate says the longevity of leadership planning may have been limited because power remained with the founding members and that may have limited the party.

Usamate says that despite FijiFirst being deregistered, parliament continues to function.

He says debates in Parliament are still as vigorous as ever and the issues that need to be brought up, the questions that are asked of government are still there.

The MP adds they, the members that are in the opposition, will continue and those that intend to join new parties in the future will continue to contest elections and move this forward.