Leadership Battle In Fiji

Fiji’s electoral rolls have been revised and the country is all set for its second general election in six months. But if the country is ready, the National Federation Party, which held most seats in the last parliament, is not; at least it wasn’t towards the end of June when lawyer Karam Ramrakha, the party’s general secretary, said he would no longer serve under the leadership of another lawyer, Siddiq Koya.

Mr Ramrakha left no room for compromise on the Ramrakha-Koya issue. He said the party had to look for a moderate and neutral leader to form a united front. Fie alleged Mr Koya had failed to see that unity prevailed in the party. His faction was prepared to settle its differences with Mr Koya’s faction for the sake of the party, and he was prepared to pay any price to see there was unity.

About the same time Mr Koya appealed to his rivals in the fight for the leadership not to go ahead with plans to split the party. He claimed Mr Ramrakha, and the party president, Mrs Jai Narayan, had plans to split the NFP. The NFPshould get together in a crucial period when the country was going through strains and stress.

The Prime Minister, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, no doubt smiled to himself to see the NFP party leadership at each other’s throats for the result of the last election showed that his Alliance Party had its problems. He promised after the election the Alliance would mend its fences, and claimed a short time ago it had done so. Only the ballot box will tell.

Mr Ramrakha, when he made his attack on Mr Koya, said the question was whether Mr Koya should lead a divided party.

The deputy leader of the National Federation Party, Mr Atunaisa Maitoga, in an effort to bring some commonsense to a ridiculous situation within his party, called for the resignation of Mr Koya, Mr Ramrakha and Mrs Narayan. Mr Maitoga, who was doing his best to reunite a divided party, said that while the three were in office there would be no lasting solution to the internal strife which was destroying the party.