Opposition Member of Parliament Alvick Maharaj has stated that the principles, values, and policies of the parties within the Coalition Government are vastly different from those he follows. He emphasized that he would not betray the trust of the people who elected him to Parliament.
When asked about the possibility of joining a party in the Coalition Government, Maharaj replied, “I haven’t decided anything yet.”
“At the moment, my main focus is the budget debate,” he said. “Once we are done on that, then we can decide. We still have time till the 15th. We cannot be making any hasty decision.”
Maharaj stated that they were elected to Parliament based on the principles, values, and policies of the FijiFirst party. “They (voters) actually voted us into Parliament for a reason, and we cannot actually deprive their trust in us because the fact is they voted based on the principles and values we followed and especially the policies at that point in time, regardless of what has happened to FijiFirst.”
“We contested under the principles and values of FijiFirst, that’s why we received the votes. We cannot at this point in time break their trust just because there is an opening for us. All these things have to be well thought out, and then we actually have to talk to our voters about what they want. We are representing them, not acting on our own will and the people that we actually represent in Parliament.”
Regarding whether the parties in the Coalition Government have principles, values, and policies that could attract them, Maharaj firmly said, “No. Definitely no because their policies are completely different compared to the ideology that we actually follow. But as you know, in politics anything can happen. I’ll be doing a proper release once I actually decide.”
To the voters, he reassured, “They should rest assured that I was their voice and I’ll continue to be their voice in Parliament.”