Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka appears on fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says coalition members have those ministries and he expects them to perform well and if they do not, he brings it to the Minister’s attention and also to the attention of the political party leader.

While responding to questions on fijivillage Straight Talk With Vijay Narayan on the reasoning behind changing the Minister for iTaukei Affairs and the Minister for Education Aseri Radrodro, Rabuka says there were a few things Radrodro did not implement as Minister for Education based on the instructions of the Prime Minister.

Rabuka says Radrodro has explained to him but the explanations were not really satisfactory so he has given him time to abide by his instructions.

He says he is not abiding by his instructions yet and has promised to do right but he has not.

When questioned what the instructions are, Rabuka says those are inter-ministerial concerns and he not looking at it as a leadership and a coalition concern.

He says SODELPA Leader, Viliame Gavoka has taken upon himself to ensure Radrodro abides by the law.

Rabuka says if Radrodro says he will not be able to do it, Rabuka will take the next step and remove him from cabinet but stay in Parliament as it is a party issue and not the Prime Minister’s issue.

We are currently trying to speak to Aseri Radrodro.

While speaking during a press conference, FijiFirst MP Jone Usamate says Rabuka’s response has again raised questions as the agreement between the coalition parties was that these portfolios be given to SODELPA.

He says that is what he is concerned about.

There has been some discomfort in the relationship between the government and the Speaker of Parliament because of the conduct of the former Leader of Government Business, Lynda Tabuya.

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka highlighted this on fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan last night when questioned on why Tabuya was removed from the Leader of Government in Parliament position.

Rabuka says the Leader of Government Business position is a very responsible role in Parliament and the person is the liaison between the government and the Speaker.

He says the Speaker was not very comfortable with some of the decisions taken by the government based on Tabuya’s advice.

The Prime Minister says they as a business committee had contributed perhaps to that in asking for changes, but there were some that were unilaterally taken by Tabuya which was uncomfortable for the Speaker.

He says everyone in Parliament should know that they are not indispensable.

When questioned on his message to the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre who are saying that the Prime Minister is removing a very capable woman from the position, Rabuka replied that the position was not reserved for any woman. He says Tabuya is an ordinary member of the house and has performed well as the Minister for Women, so that has no impact on her performance as a Cabinet Minister.

You can watch the full Straight Talk interview below:

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka confirms there will be no change to the Attorney General.

This is after he received advice from the Office of the Solicitor General and concerns raised by the Fiji Law Society.

While speaking on fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan, Rabuka says he had taken some advice initially and then the Law Society came up with their concerns and he has given them a lot of credit as they would not have written on something that is trivial in the sense of the administration of law within government.

He says he listened to them and got his own advice from within the government that is the Solicitor General’s Office where the advice came, and he decided that they will not change the Attorney General and the Minister for Lands and keep them where they are.

Rabuka says he basically got the same advice from the Solicitor General’s Office and the Fiji Law Society.

When questioned why the cabinet reshuffle announcement was made on social media last Friday evening as it came as a shock to many, Rabuka says he did not make any post and it was done by those who do it and when further questioned why was it released without any proper gazetted ministerial assignments, Rabuka says there has been no reshuffle.

He also says he did not authorise the release last Friday night and it was released without his knowledge.

When questioned if the letter by the RFMF played a part in deciding to hold back the reshuffle, Rabuka says there is no direct communication line between him and the Army Commander.

He says the Commander communicated with his line minister, the Minister for Home Affairs who upon receiving the letter alerted him and had said it is going to be sticky and they should take heed of the advice from the Commander and the Fiji Law Society.

When asked on the gravity of the situation and the implications on the nation, Rabuka said the situation was grave enough for the Commander to contact his Minister and that is very responsible for him as a Commander to do that.

Rabuka says that was another point of consideration during his deliberation during the matter. When questioned if the government made the decision after pressure from the RFMF and if he is changing things now when the RFMF can come to their line Minister, Rabuka says they told everybody that they are a government that listens and in this case they listened to the Fiji Law Society and the Minister for Home Affairs who brought the concerns of the Commander and all those add up and give him confidence that there should be no change.

When questioned that he had shown intention that he wanted to change, Rabuka agreed but says SODELPA, very rightly, came up and said they had not been consulted.

He says the leader of SODELPA asked for consultation and they did that with NFP party leader and decided to stay where they are.

Rabuka also says before the initial assignment of responsibilities in December last year, he had consulted Minister for Lands Filimoni Vosarogo who had said that there were a few things that they had to straighten out.

When questioned if he did not know about the requirement under the Constitution that if one has been found guilty by the Independent Legal Services Commission they do not qualify, Rabuka says Vosarogo had told him that he needed to straighten out a few things and later said he has cleared it so Rabuka took his word for it.

Watch the full Straight Talk interview here: