Seruiratu’s group is confused and what did they do when they were in Govt – Prof. Prasad

Deputy Prime Minister and National Federation Party Leader, Professor Biman Prasad says Leader of the Opposition, Inia Seruiratu and some members of the Group of 16 who are planning to set up a new political party seem confused as Seruiratu is giving credit to Bainimarama and Sayed-Khaiyum who had abandoned the FijiFirst Party.

Professor Prasad says Seruiratu’s group is saying that they will look at priorities like bringing economic stability, cost of living, combat crime and proliferation of drugs and upholding accountability and transparency in governance.

He says some of these people in the Group of 16 were involved when audit reports were not made public from the December 2006 coup to 2014, and when Professor Prasad became the Public Accounts Committee Chair and was looking into those reports, then these same people with Bainimarama and Sayed-Khaiyum changed the parliamentary standing orders making any MP able to be the Committee Chair rather than just the Opposition.

Professor Prasad also questions where was the value for accountability and transparency by this group when their Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum did not ensure that annual reports of the Office of the Attorney General are tabled in Parliament.

The annual reports of the Office of the Attorney General dating back from 2006 to 2022 were tabled in Parliament in December last year.

Professor Prasad also asks who is responsible for the state of affairs that the coalition government has inherited on drugs.

He adds Seruiratu was the Minister and what did he do.

He says the coalition government has taken decisive steps which include the fight against the supply of drugs, setting up of the Narcotics Bureau and drug rehabilitation centres.

The Deputy Prime Minister says the former FijiFirst which included Seruiratu, Parveen Bala and others had left a huge debt burden of 90 percent of GDP after taking a lot of loans even before COVID-19.

Professor Prasad also says the inflation rate last year was lowest since 2021, and the economic growth and investments now are through the direct policies and measures implemented by the coalition government.