There was heated debate in Parliament as National Federation Party MP, Lenora Qereqeretabua said she is concerned that there maybe parliamentarians that may stand to gain directly or indirectly from Bills or Motions that they are debating today however Acting Prime Minister, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says Qereqeretabua and the other two NFP MPs may be watching too many conspiracy theories and movies.
While debating on the Tobacco Amendment Bill, Qereqeretabua says whenever the Attorney General says it is simply an amendment, they know that the amendment is anything but.
The NFP Vice President says they are not afraid of being ambushed personally but what they fear and care about is how democracy is being ambushed and throttled in the people’s parliament.
She has asked if the people of Fiji did benefit from the amendment to the Medicinal Products legislation last December and whether all pharmacies in the country were allowed to import and sell approved COVID-19 testing kits.
Qereqeretabua claims that only a limited number of pharmacies were allowed to sell them.
There were three point of orders raised by Minister for Fisheries Semi Koroilavesau and Minister for Infrastructure Jone Usamate during Qereqeretabua’s contribution.
Usamate says Qereqeretabua was wasting parliament’s time.
On the three point of orders, the Speaker of Parliament reminded Qereqeretabua to only speak on the Bill and in response, Qereqeretabua maintained that she was talking about what the people expected of her.
She went on to ask if the Bill was connected to a new tobacco manufacturer or importer.
Acting Prime Minister, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says all Members of Parliament know that a member must before participating in the consideration of any item or business such as speaking in parliament or sitting on a committee declare any financial interest, and this is clear in the Parliamentary Standing Orders.
He says they had Niko Nawaikula speaking on FBC when he has a case before the courts in which the courts has said he must pay $3,000 in costs.
Sayed-Khaiyum says Qereqeretabua is being very subjective and selective.
He says the three NFP MPs are just coming up with conspiracy theories.
Sayed-Khaiyum says tobacco farmers will also gain more from competition in the tobacco industry.
He also says the FijiFirst always declares all it’s donations, and went on to make the claim that they know some companies who gave SODELPA and NFP money under the table.
Sayed-Khaiyum says they know but he is not here to talk about it.
The Tobacco Control Act provides for the licensing of manufacturers, importers and distributors of tobacco products and e-cigarettes and suki vendors.
The Tobacco Control Amendment Bill 2022 which was passed today extends the maximum period of a licence from one calendar year to 5 years, exempts a person from payment of the prescribed fees where the person did not operate as outlined in the person’s licence due to difficulties faced as a result of COVID-19 restrictions.
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