Politics

SODELPA scrambles to address pending issues

June 30, 2020 4:43 pm

General Secretary Emele Duituturaga

It’s a short reprieve for the Social Democratic Liberal Party having its suspension lifted yesterday.

Officials now have to scramble to sort out Acting President, Vijay Singh’s term which expires today and stay in compliance with its own constitution.

Registrar of Political Parties Mohammed Saneem has already indicated this may result in a constitutional crisis.

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According to General Secretary Emele Duituturaga, the month long suspension has given them time to reflect on the state of the Party.

“Well obviously we have a lot of catching up with each other to do, it’s been a challenging suspension period. It’s a new executive, it’s a new management and certainly we will be looking to consult more to involve our constituencies especially.”

With Vijay Singh’s Presidency expiring tonight, Party officials are in discussions about the best course of action.

Registrar of Political Parties, Mohammed Saneem has recommended that the matter be dealt with at the Special General Meeting.

“In order to remedy that ,the  party has been asked to call a special general meeting so as to be able to rectify the deficiencies of its compliance with its constitution.”

The bigger struggle for SODELPA will be to bring together the two factions which until yesterday, have been embroiled in a power struggle.

It went on to the point that Party Leader Sitiveni Rabuka was not involved in crucial appointments, and the uplifting of the suspension, however, Duituturaga says the main focus is ensuring unity within the party.

“He is the party leader and he is the parliamentary leader and I am looking forward to supporting that role and to work with our caucus. There is I believe some appetite to unite different viewpoints, but it is a leadership issue and I will seeking the guidance of the executives and management board on that.”

The Special General Meeting next month will also discuss a way of appointing a Party Leader.