SODELPA MP Anare Jale, Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama

SODELPA MP Anare Jale launched a racial attack on the Attorney General, saying the Government MP is not wanted by the i-Taukei community.

Jale’s outburst yesterday raised eyebrows as he says the Prime Minister and the other i-Taukei Ministers in Government were not of concern, but only Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.

He went on to say, that Sayed-Khaiyum was being touted as the one responsible for the demise of i-Taukei affairs.

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says the statements were an insult to i-Taukei parliamentarians, branding it as sheer racism.

In a debate which was about immigration matters, Anare Jale, took a different path with this scathing attack.

“And they blame the Attorney General for all the ills, for all the problems that Fijians/the i-Taukei are facing at the moment. So I would like to raise that so that he knows. They don’t point a finger at the Prime Minister, they point a finger at him.”

Something, which did not go down well with Sayed-Khaiyum, who was taken aback by this accusation.

“We can have a discussion outside, I thought you were quite a reasonable person. But maybe you need to be educated a bit more about 2013 constitution that will tell you about the rights that are protected. And if people are going to make racial overtones and give it a racial tinge in terms of policies we are implementing, then obviously it is your duty as a member of this Parliament to put them on the right path and tell them the truth. Not actually feed into the flames.”

Outside Parliament, when approached by FBC News, Jale maintained what he had uttered minutes earlier.

“They come up and say things, pointing towards someone who they feel is the cause of all the problems. And I said it in Parliament, I said it was the Attorney General.”

And when asked if he had any proof of this, Jale’s response was vague.

“No they don’t have proof, but they say from their own assessment of things, this is what they assess things to be. They come up and say things pointing at someone.”

Sayed-Khaiyum says the support from the Fijians spoke volumes and not what Jale had said.

“There are many equally or if not more people who are very satisfied with what the government is doing. Unfortunately, he chose to racialize it or ethnify the whole matter. And bring it to a particular level of division on that basis. And not talk about the subject matter, there is no proof whatsoever, there could be one or two people there is no doubt of course but there are numerous and thousands of people who actually agree with what we are doing.”

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says he expected better from a person of Jale’s calibre.

“Out of the group on the other side, I thought he would be one of the sensible ones but obviously not. He not only insulted the Attorney General but insulted everybody on this side of the house. I think his comments were very unparliamentarily.”

Other government MPs are expected to comment on the matter soon.