Opposition MPs, Jone Usamate and Mosese Bulitavu continue to raise issues of concern within the former FijiFirst Party, and have even labelled Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum as a hypocrite.
Usamate says during his tenure as FijiFirst General Secretary, Sayed-Khaiyum staunchly opposed the $15,000 constituency allowance for MPs - a stance FijiFirst proudly championed in Parliament.
He says despite opposing the $15,000 constituency allowance for MPs in Parliament, Sayed-Khaiyum later accepted it on behalf of FijiFirst and used $5,000 per member to address party debts caused by his poor financial management.
Usamate says if Sayed-Khaiyum was genuinely committed to his principles, he could have donated the money instead of using it to offset the liabilities.
Usamate adds Sayed-Khaiyum's actions speak louder than his words as he accepted the very allowance which FijiFirst opposed, true to his character, left FijiFirst with a significant debt of close to $700,000, and later dissolved the party, leaving creditors high and dry, and didn't donate the controversial allowance to charitable causes.
He says now, Sayed-Khaiyum has the audacity to call for ethics from others, criticizing MPs who voted against the motion as per party directives, yet his record reeks of contradiction and double standards.
Usamate says Fijians are well aware of the role MPs play in their communities - from religious events to natural disasters, weddings to funerals, MPs are expected to give back generously.
He says this is especially challenging with modest salaries of $50,000 paid to government MPs and Opposition backbenchers.
Usamate says contrast this with Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, who imposed an unjust salary structure during his tenure, paying himself $235,000 annually—nearly six times what government MPs and Opposition backbenchers earned.
He says Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum’s record of hypocrisy and self-interest must not be forgotten.
Usamate says it’s time for Sayed-Khaiyum to look in the mirror before lecturing others on ethics.
Opposition MP, Mosese Bulitavu says this proves that the Opposition Group of 16 in parliament don't like Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and don't want to be politically associated with him.
Bulitavu says they also believe that the former Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama's downfall was because of the former Attorney General's wrong advice.
He says most of the former senior Ministers in the previous FijiFirst government gave sound advice to the former Prime Minister but were always cut off by Sayed-Khaiyum.
Bulitavu says under the current coalition government, individual Ministers table their own Bills and it was not the case of the previous government when Sayed-Khaiyum as AG overshadowed the line Ministers by presenting all Bills.
He says some say it came to a stage when Sayed-Khaiyum's advice was for the former Prime Minister not to listen to the Military Council.
Bulitavu says no doubt the current military leadership has chosen a path of restoration and reconciliation something that the former Prime Minister did not support because of bad advice.
We have sought comments from Sayed-Khaiyum. He is yet to respond.
