As Fiji celebrates Diwali, Deputy Prime Minister and National Federation Party Leader, Professor Biman Prasad says the festival is a time for rejoicing with family and friends, prayer, reflection and reaffirming the values of truth, justice, humility and righteousness.
The NFP Leader says the lighting of diya, symbolises the triumph of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance and most importantly, truth over evil.
He says it also reminds us to bring light to places facing darkness and to draw strength from faith, solidarity, and resilience.
He highlighted the significance of Lord Ram’s return after 14 years in exile as a symbol of honesty, integrity, good governance and humility, saying these virtues remain highly relevant today.
Professor Prasad says he has witnessed goodwill, tolerance, unity and peaceful co-existence among Fiji’s multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multicultural population since the coalition government took office on 24th December 2022.
He emphasised that the coalition government upholds fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, association, and the media, and maintains transparency, accountability, and good governance.
He says some key achievements include writing off over $650 million in debt for more than 53,000 tertiary students and their families, providing a record number of scholarships, reducing VAT to 12.5 percent, increasing social welfare payments and raising civil servants’ salaries by 10–23 percent in the last two budgets. He further says the government also paid record cane grower payments of over $100 per tonne, providing $200 per student annually for families earning below $50,000, benefiting over 200,000 students, providing financial compensation to Vatukoula gold miners or their families, ending a 33-year industrial stand-off, subsidising all bus fares by 10% in the current budget and rebuilding and improving neglected infrastructure and health facilities
The NFP leader says together they are illuminating the lives of our people and restoring pride and patriotism.
He concluded by wishing all Fijians a joyous and blessed Diwali, “May the Lord’s blessing be upon all of you”.
