12 January, 2026, 9:32 am Central - 26°C Rain

Gavoka urges Draunidalo to put the 1987 coup behind her
Opposition chose the coup culture and the coup father to lead them out in 2018 - Draunidalo

Gavoka urges Draunidalo to put the 1987 coup behind her

Opposition chose the coup culture and the coup father to lead them out in 2018 - Draunidalo

By Vijay Narayan , Iva Danford
05/03/2021
Hope Party Leader and former MP Tupou Draunidalo and SODELPA Leader Viliame Gavoka.

SODELPA Leader Viliame Gavoka is urging the Hope Party Leader and former MP Tupou Draunidalo to put the 1987 coup behind her after Draunidalo said the very people who racked up national debt between 1987 to 2006 are worrying day and night now about the 73% debt to GDP.

Draunidalo said that the Opposition and their friends complain that 50 to 73% debt to GDP ratio was dumb borrowing, but she questions whether it was fine for the opposition when they had the 0 to 49% debt to GDP ratio to build the coup culture before 2006.

Gavoka says the coup was in 1987 and we need to look into the future.

He says what needs to be looked at now is moving the country forward and they have been trying to get a bipartisan approach.

Meanwhile, the Leader of the National Federation Party Professor Biman Prasad says he will not comment on anything Tupou Draunidalo says.

Draunidalo has tweeted that the 0 to 49% ratio was the legacy of the Opposition and their friends between 1987 to 2006.

She says the Opposition chose the coup culture and the coup father to lead them out in 2018.

Draunidalo is also asking if the entire Opposition and their friends can just retire.

She says Fiji like most if not all countries around the world are increasing debt to sustain the country through COVID-19 and rebuild easier, but the Opposition supporters disagree.

Draunidalo tweets that the Fijian government should ignore the Opposition and carry on.

She says according to the Opposition the debt to GDP spending that removed them by military coup was intelligent borrowing.

Draunidalo says the policies of the Opposition have been all wrong, because the absolute basis for not blinking about raising debt levels to build a bigger, better, more resilient economy post COVID-19 is alien to them.

She says an example is Japan who has 236% debt to GDP ratio, Singapore has 132%, Fiji now has 73%.

Draunidalo says the big difference is that Japan and Singapore have the governance infrastructure to not blink about racking up another 100% and no one inside their countries or outside will blink.

Draunidalo says the Fijian government should carry on but should, as the Hope Party has emphasized in policy statements, focus on governance.

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