Apenisa Waqairadovu 
Opposition parliamentarian Alvick Maharaj has called on Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka to suspend overseas travel for Sugar Industry Minister Charan Jeath Singh and also called for him to be stripped off his portfolio.
Maharaj raised a point of order in Parliament this morning, expressing frustration with Singh’s alleged behavior while attending COP29 in Baku Azerbaijan.
He claimed that the Sugar Minister’s social media post about the team that represented Fiji at COP29 brought humiliation to the nation and the hardworking civil servants.
Maharaj claimed that Singh, who was also part of the Fiji delegation at COP29, was not present in most meetings.
“While our civil servants were working tirelessly without adequate sleep, Hon. Charan Jeath Singh might have been in a drunk state posting rubbish on his Facebook page from his luxury hotel room. Because we were informed that 99 percent of the time he was missing from meeting venues.”
Maharaj claimed that the minister’s actions demonstrated a high level of hypocrisy, given that Singh was absent and blamed others on his social media page.
He added that Singh took an oath as a minister, which he claimed he was not living up to and called on the Sugar Minister to make a public apology.
Maharaj said Singh’s decision to remove his Facebook post could be viewed as evidence that his actions were wrong and unjustified.
In response to the point of order, Minister for Women, Children, and Social Protection Lynda Tabuya said that Singh should be given the opportunity to respond, however, he was not present in the house.
Speaker of the House, Filimone Jitoko, said natural justice required that the identified member be present in order to respond.
