National Federation Party Leader Professor Biman Prasad says practicing exploitative politics with land is harmful to the livelihoods of tenants and is against the national interest.
Professor Prasad says control of all freehold land must always remain with freehold landowners, while control of State land must always remain with the State.
He says the NFP has strongly advocated for the total protection of Crown/State land and freehold land since the party was founded in 1963.
Professor Prasad says ownership of freehold land is inalienable, meaning it can never be taken away from its owner, just like Native land.
He says NFP has never wavered from this position, even during political upheavals and changes in national leadership.
The NFP Leader says former party leaders, including founder A.D. Patel, S.M. Koya and Justice Jai Ram Reddy, have maintained this non-negotiable position.
Professor Prasad says former Prime Ministers Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara in the 1970s and early 1980s, and Sitiveni Rabuka in 1996, had attempted to revert Crown/State Schedule A and B lands to Native land.
However, he says both accepted the reasoning of the then NFP leaders not to proceed with the move in the national interest.
He says in February 1999, Rabuka withdrew two Bills from the House of Representatives that were first tabled in 1996.
Professor Prasad says Rabuka acknowledged correspondence between then Opposition Leader Jai Ram Reddy and Ratu Mara, which explained why control of Crown/State land should remain with the State so it could be used to benefit disadvantaged people, particularly tenants.
He says this was also one of the key findings of the 1960 Burns Commission Report.
Professor Prasad claims that less than a month after becoming Prime Minister in 1999, Fiji Labour Party Leader Mahendra Chaudhry told the Great Council of Chiefs that his government would revert State Schedule A and B lands to Native land.
He says Chaudhry's government proceeded with the move in October 1999 and defended it during parliamentary debate.
Professor Prasad says the Bills lapsed when Chaudhry's government was deposed in May 2000.
He says when the Bills were reintroduced in April 2002, the 27 Fiji Labour Party MPs did not oppose them but argued that the timing was not right.
He further claims that FLP MPs serving on the parliamentary committee scrutinising the Bills defended the proposed legislation.
Professor Prasad says the move affected a few thousand tenants on State Schedule A and B lands, with many displaced.
He says the lesson for all political leaders and parties is that exploiting land issues for political purposes harms tenants' livelihoods and goes against the national interest.
