Former Deputy Prime Minister and National Federation Party Leader, Professor Biman Prasad has strongly responded to Opposition MP Premila Kumar, saying her criticism of his call for fuel subsidies for sugarcane harvesters and lorry operators shows a lack of understanding of how democracy and coalition governments function.
This is after Professor Prasad called for government assistance of $5 per tonne of sugarcane for harvesters and $6 per tonne for cane lorry operators to ease the financial burden on growers caused by rising fuel costs.
He says he made the statement in his capacity as NFP Leader and this is not grandstanding but standing in solidarity with growers.
Professor Prasad says he had also written to the Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Sugar Industry regarding the issue and copied the letter to Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.
He says it is plainly clear that Kumar, having served in a dictatorial government under a two-men rule, has no idea how democracy and coalition government functions.
The NFP Leader says Kumar remained silent during her time as a Cabinet Minister in the former FijiFirst Government when growers received less than the guaranteed cane price between 2019 and 2022.
He says growers were short-changed by almost $14 million during that period and contrasts that with the Coalition Government's record, noting that growers received more than $91 per tonne in 2023, $105 per tonne in 2024 and about $101 per tonne in 2025.
Professor Prasad says despite a forecast cane price of $57.40 per tonne this year, government has assured growers they will still receive the guaranteed price of $85 per tonne.
The comments come after Kumar questioned why Professor Prasad was publicly calling on government to introduce subsidies when the NFP is part of the Coalition Government and has Cabinet Ministers involved in decision making.
Kumar says coalition partners should pursue policy changes through Cabinet processes rather than issuing public statements that make them appear separate from government decisions.
