Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is calling on everyone to use their freedom of expression responsibly, stressing that people can disagree strongly and hold each other to account without bullying, humiliating, or deliberately hurting one another.
In a statement, Rabuka says Fijians no longer need to fear speaking their minds.
He says people are free to express their views, debate the issues that matter to them, and say what they believe without looking over their shoulder, adding that this is democracy.
Rabuka says when they repealed the Media Industry Development Act in 2023, fulfilling a commitment they had made to the people of Fiji, this was the kind of country they wanted to restore, where people could speak freely and journalists could report without the threat of MIDA hanging over them.
He says there was a time when many people did not feel that freedom.
The Prime Minister says he has lived through different chapters of our country's history, and he has also had to reflect on my own part in that history.
Rabuka says with the passing of the years, he has come to understand more deeply that democracy is not simply about winning an election but it is also about accepting criticism when you are the one in power and protecting the right of people to disagree with you.
He adds that when they came into Government, they could have kept MIDA and politically, perhaps that might have made life easier for them but it would not have been right for Fiji or the legacy they wanted to leave behind.
