Members of the public are capable of evaluating the performance of their government, according to Deputy Prime Minister Professor Biman Prasad. Speaking on The Lens @177 this week, Prof Prasad discussed his party’s strategies to win over voters who supported FijiFirst in previous elections. He noted that votes were sometimes influenced by propaganda.
Prof Prasad contended that before the 2022 election, there was significant propaganda, fear, and intimidation in Fiji. He claimed that Indo-Fijian voters, in particular, were told by elements within the FijiFirst campaign that their social welfare, land rights, and scholarships would be lost and everything would become discriminatory.
He pointed out that since the Coalition took power, none of these fears had materialized. Instead, he highlighted improvements such as a better merit-based scholarship scheme, increased social welfare, and the continuation of free education for school students. The government also provided two tranches of $200 each at the beginning of the school year, raised the sugar price by over $100, and increased the minimum wage to $5 from April 1.
Prof Prasad stated that the public seems very pleased with the current government, although he acknowledged that a small group of people might have differing opinions. He stressed that people are intelligent and can see that the government is not merely seeking popularity.
He did mention ongoing issues, including healthcare, infrastructure, and roads, which people want to see addressed promptly. Despite these challenges, he firmly believed that the government’s support had significantly increased over the past 18 months.