No show by the Opposition at the National Economic Summit

Although the Members of the Opposition were invited to the two day National Economic Summit, none of the FijiFirst Party parliamentarians have shown up this morning.

Empty chairs for the Opposition can be seen at the summit at GPH.

Fiji Labour Party Leader, Mahendra Chaudhry who has been critical of the summit is also not present at the summit.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Professor Biman Prasad says it shows the politicians that are not attending do not believe in dialogue and consultation.

Unity Fiji Party Leader, Savenaca Narube is at the summit and will take part in a plenary session today which will focus on the state of the economy and future for fiscal policy.

This session will have a panel made up of Reserve Bank of Fiji Governor, Ariff Ali, Savenaca Narube, Fiji Council of Social Services Executive Director, Vani Catanasiga, and Fijian Holdings Limited CEO, Jaoji Koroi.

While opening the National Economic Summit, Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka said let us be reminded that we can all work together to seek solutions to challenges and maintain our different political viewpoints.

Rabuka also says that he was pleased to note that all Members of Parliament have been invited to attend the summit.

He says their approach is about keeping Fiji moving in a unified direction and creating confidence that leaders can put their differences aside and work together to chart a new future for all.

Rabuka believes this reflects the spirit of the summit.

He also hopes that the deliberations in the next two days will surely bring unity and solutions to our collective challenges. We are currently trying to get comments from Opposition Leader, Inia Seruiratu, FijiFirst Party General Secretary, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and FLP Leader, Mahendra Chaudhry.