Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka says despite everything Voreqe Bainimarama had put him through, Rabuka still considers Bainimarama his friend.
Rabuka has posted on his official facebook page and tagged Bainimarama, saying he knows Bainimarama needs a quarters as the Leader of the Opposition.
The Prime Minister says he was Leader of the Opposition for two years, and he would have performed much better if he had official rent-free quarters.
Rabuka says he could work from home.
He says at the moment you have grandchildren, great grandchildren running over your feet while you’re trying to work and prepare yourself for the next debate.
Rabuka says Bainimarama could do that much better if he had an official quarters which Rabuka has made available for him - an official quarters at rent free.
In another facebook post last night, Rabuka says it was difficult but not impossible to live without a pension.
He says he collected plastic bottles along the seawall and then he saw somebody else collecting plastic bottles. Rabuka says he ended up collecting bottles for the man.
Rabuka says it was difficult, there was no car but they had a small family car.
He says the government led by Voreqe Bainimarama, removed Rabuka’s pension and entitlements including use of an official government vehicle as a former Prime Minister.
Rabuka says he had to find ways of remaining above water.
He says he was in a lot of debt.
He owed a lot of money to the bank to acquire the Vanua Levu estate, and he had calculated his earnings for almost the rest of his life in politics.
Rabuka says then he got defeated in 1999 and was out of Parliament.
He says because of his election to be the Great Council of Chiefs chair, he couldn’t do both.
Rabuka says he had to sell up a lot of things to reduce his debt and it was difficult.
