Rabuka and Seruiratu to attend COP meeting in Dubai

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and the Leader of Opposition Inia Seruiratu will be attending the COP meeting in Dubai this year after Parliament approved to amend the Parliament calendar for this year.

While tabling the motion, Leader of Government in Parliament Lynda Tabuya said parliament had already passed the sitting calendar for 2023 during the sitting of Parliament earlier in the year as well as the amendment during the July sitting after deliberation at the Business Committee.

She says this has been the practice that the Business Committee had agreed that should be there a dire need to re-adjust some of the sittings this would be subsequently tabled in Parliament for endorsement.

While supporting the motion, Rabuka says he did not plan on the United Nations General Assembly meeting that came up later during their term and after the original sitting plan had been formulated.

He says the second meeting is later this year, where he and the Leader of the Opposition will be away for the COP conference.

While also supporting the motion, FijiFirst MP Faiyaz Koya says they do understand the commitment of the Prime Minister, however, he urges the Ministers to ask their staff to pull up their socks because the Leader of the Opposition had already warned everybody earlier that the last two weeks of September is dedicated to the UN General Assembly.

He also told the Government that when the Opposition is giving advice, they should listen. Parliament also approved that the second week of sitting which was earlier scheduled for the 27th of November to the 1st of December be brought forward to the 14th of November to the 17th of November.

This is to allow the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the government delegates to attend the COP meeting in Dubai.