By Rashika Kumar in Suva
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is calling on Fijians 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 said Fijians no longer needed to fear speaking their minds.
He said people were free to express their views, debate the issues that mattered to them, and say what they believed without looking over their shoulder, adding that this was democracy.
Rabuka said when his coalition government repealed the Media Industry Development Act (MIDA) in 2023, fulfilling a commitment they had made to the people of Fiji, this was the kind of country they wanted to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 said there was a time when many people did not feel that freedom.
The Prime Minister said he had lived through different chapters of our country’s history, and he had also had to reflect on his own part in that history.
As a former Fiji military lieutenant-colonel, he led Fiji’s first two coups in 1987 and he co-authored the book Rabuka: No Other Way with Eddie Dean and Stan Ritova.
Rabuka said with the passing of the years, he had come to understand more deeply that democracy was not simply about winning an election but it was also about accepting criticism when in power and protecting the right of people to disagree.
He added that when his coalition 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.
Republished from Fijivillage News with permission.
