Aliki Bia 
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama [left] and SODELPA MP Mosese Bulitavu
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has strongly criticized statements made by SODELPA MP Mosese Bulitavu and says as leader of the nation he won’t tolerate it, and neither will the Fijian people.
Bulitavu had made allegations that about Indo-Fijian women in rural areas are involved in extra-marital affairs and was the reason they were murdered.
He also said that the i-Taukei were not known for committing crimes such as murder and stabbing, but only in recent time picked it up from Indo-Fijians, whom he referred to as vulagi.
Bainimarama says the comments are an insult to women and that Bulitavu’s derogative comments shows his ignorance by putting forward harmful and dishonest ethnic stereotypes, which are racist.
He says Bulitavu has proven once again that he and his party are entirely incapable of seeing the complexity behind serious issues, like domestic violence in Fiji, and delivering solutions that address the real reasons for these societal ills.
The Prime Minister says Bulitavu’s statements are an insult to the women of Fiji on two fronts.
The PM says Bulitavu is not only showing his ignorance by putting forward harmful and dishonest ethnic stereotypes, which are racist but behind his statements lurks a deeply seeded and deadly patriarchal mentality.
An irate Bainimarama says domestic violence is not some new phenomena, nor was it brought to Fiji by any group.
He says people like Bulitavu see women as inferior and as objects to be abused at will and has proven himself small-minded as well.
Bainimarama says as PM he has and will always take every opportunity to denounce violence, in all forms, against all women.
He says his call for a whole of society approach that addresses the root cause of this problem and helped lead real action to keep women and young girls safe from abuse will continue.
However, what has upset Bainimarama is that statements, such as those from Bulitavu, jeopardise that entire national effort by entrenching our society in a vicious cycle of violence that excuses abusers and refuses to acknowledge the mentalities that fuel their reprehensible behaviour.
He says while it is disheartening, he is not surprised that SODELPA’s leadership has failed to condemn Bulitavu’s reliance on racist stereotypes to cover for abusers in Fiji.
Bainimarama says since putting forward the backwards notion that some Fijians can be considered vulagi in their own country, SODELPA has proved themselves to be a party that endorses outright racism.
He says SODELPA is not a compassionate party and not a leadership that listens, adding they are a party that constantly seeks to divide us along ethnic lines, along provincial lines and now along gender lines as well.
Bainimarama says he is amazed that not a single member, including any women members, from any Opposition party has hit back against Bulitavu’s ignorance as well and the silence is just as damaging as the statements themselves.
The PM has called on all Fijians to join him in condemning Bulitavu’s bigotry and racism and in condemning any political party which seeks to divide our people, excuse domestic violence and drag our society back into the past.
Related Stories:
Bulitavu is a misogynist – FWCC
Bulitavu shames Indo-Fijian women, calls murders a Vulagi culture
