Unity Fiji Party Leader Savenaca Narube

The recent expansion of Cabinet has reignited debate about the Coalition Government’s decision-making and priorities over the past two years.

Unity Fiji Party Leader Savenaca Narube has raised serious concerns about the rationale provided for this move, suggesting it undermines public trust and good governance.

Narube argues that the reasons given by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka for increasing the number of ministers are unconvincing.

He questions the claim that the workload was too heavy, pointing out that over the past six months, the Prime Minister had reassigned portfolios to himself.

“It’s not as simple as that. It’s not as simple as that. When you use other allocation, what happens to those allocations? What happens to the priorities of government? What happens to the direction of the use of funds? So those are the kind of things that they conveniently kind of brush aside as not important.”

Unity Fiji Party Leader Savenaca Narube

Narube believes this redistribution of responsibilities was a deliberate strategy to justify the expansion.

He said the increased size of the Cabinet follows a significant salary hike for ministers last year, which was based on their workloads at the time.

Narube stated that with responsibilities now being divided among more ministers, each minister’s workload is effectively reduced while their higher salaries remain unchanged.

He sees this as a fundamental issue, suggesting taxpayers are now funding a government that offers more for less.

Another justification cited for the Cabinet expansion was facilitating amendments to Fiji’s 2013 Constitution.

Narube acknowledges the importance of constitutional reform but points out that any amendment requires the approval of 75 percent of registered voters, a threshold he describes as extremely difficult to meet.

This challenge, coupled with sensitive issues like constitutional immunity clauses makes Narube sceptical about the government’s commitment to genuine reform.

Narube also criticizes the practice of shuffling underperforming ministers rather than removing them, arguing this approach lacks accountability and increases unnecessary costs.

He estimates the additional expense of the expanded Cabinet to exceed $3 million.
However, Narube warns that redirecting funds from the national budget in this way will likely compromise other taxpayer-funded programs and priorities.

He perceives the Cabinet expansion as a move driven more by political ambition than by the interests of the people.

Narube asserts that such decisions reflect a long-standing problem in Fiji’s political landscape, where self-interest often takes precedence over public service.
He calls for reform and a renewed focus on governance that prioritizes the welfare of the population.