Fiji’s next Police Commissioner will be a Fijian.
This assurance was given in Parliament yesterday by Home Affairs Minister Pio Tikoduadua after Opposition Member of Parliament Ioane Naivalurua expressed concerns about the appointment.
“I would like to assure the honourable member, our new commissioner will be a Fijian,” Mr. Tikoduadua said.
“A man in blue, not a man in green or red, nor will he be a foreigner and he will be a policeman or a policewoman.”
Mr. Naivalurua also told Parliament that the police reset shouldn’t be dependent on external leadership and the days of dependency were long gone.
“Outsourcing mentoring for the Commissioner of Police undermines the potential for local leadership to set and uphold ethical standards rooted in Fiji’s own cultural and societal context,” Mr. Naivalurua said.
However, Mr. Tikoduadua emphasized that every good leader knew they needed help.
“The Leader of Opposition and I were mentored by great people in the RFMF, and I think that we testify to that. We are standing here today because we were mentored well,” he said.
“I would just like to assure that there is no ulterior motive in getting a mentor and we need help from everyone. Parliament needs help from UNDP and that is not local, so that is what we are doing.”
Meanwhile, Attorney-General Graham Leung informed this newspaper that the Constitutional Offices Commission would meet this Friday.
He said the post of police commissioner would be advertised once it was declared to be vacant, and currently, it remained substantively occupied.
One of the candidates touted for the top job, Rusiate Tudravu, said he would comment once the post was advertised.