Opposition Member of Parliament and Member of the Emoluments Committee Alvick Maharaj [Source: Parliament of the Republic of Fiji]

Opposition Member of Parliament and Member of the Emoluments Committee Alvick Maharaj claims that FijiFirst Acting General Secretary Faiyaz Koya pressured him to sign the committee report, which recommended increasing salaries and allowances for MPs.

Maharaj asserts that FijiFirst central executive committee deliberately opted to disregard his speech where he opposed the motion.

In a statement, Maharaj questions if the party had an objection to anyone not going to vote, then why was it not communicated by the acting general secretary once the discussion took place in the caucus meeting on Friday morning and before the motion was debated.

He adds that this also raises the question of whether the acting general secretary even has any powers to make decisions or is just the mouthpiece of someone.

The opposition MP says that he was caught by surprise when he received the termination letter without a simple communication from the central executive committee that he was under any kind of investigation.

He adds that during the discussion in the caucus meeting, he informed everyone that he had reservations about the report and wouldn’t vote, and the discussion took place in the presence of the acting general secretary.

He has questioned if the decision to terminate him was personal or professional, as he claims that this raises serious concern if the central executive committee or founding members had a personal agenda against him and opted to terminate him using what transpired as an excuse.

Meanwhile, Maharaj did not vote, however, was part of the Emoluments Committee.

Attempts to get comments from FijiFirst Acting General Secretary Faiyaz Koya have proved futile.