“I want to pay tribute today to the Fijian people and say to you today before the world that this was your victory and whichever candidate you chose, yours was a vote for a better future for our nation.”
These were the words of Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama while delivering Fiji’s national statement at the UN General Assembly.
Bainimarama pledged that he will govern for the benefit of all the citizens, no matter who they are, where they come from or who they voted for.
Bainimarama said his government will be an inclusive government over the next four years and he will be the leader of all Fijians, for all Fijians and he is determined to leave no‑one behind.
The Prime Minister then said that in that spirit, he extends a hand of friendship to his political opponents.
He said whatever their differences, they have to work together constructively in parliament when it convenes on the 6th of next month to improve the lives of every Fijian.
Bainimarama told the UN General Assembly that it has been a long and sometimes traumatic journey for our nation in the 44 years since Independence with four coups, a rebellion, four Constitutions and 56 days of shame in 2000 when members of our Parliament were held hostage.
He said Fiji has struggled to be unified and cohesive, our development retarded by our inability to think and work as one nation, one people.
But, Bainimarama says with this election, we have put that era firmly behind us and in our new democracy, we are all Fijians, not members of separate ethnic and religious groups.
He said having established a common and equal citizenry, along with a secular state, we intend to move forward together to finally fulfill our promise as a nation, to fulfill our destiny.
Bainimarama then said that as we begin this new era in our national life, he wants to thank those in this great community of nations who stood by Fiji in recent years as they made the reforms that were necessary to create a better Fiji.
The Prime Minister also said that not everyone understood what they were trying to do.
He said some tried to damage them with sanctions, to degrade their quality of governance because they refused to accept their prescriptive and high handed approach towards Fiji.
But, Bainimarama highlighted to the leaders at the general assembly that majority of them recognized Fiji’s right to determine its own future and came to understand that they were working not for the benefit of a governing elite but for the common good.
Bainimarama then said that Fiji has also set its sights on being a smarter country by introducing free schooling at the primary and secondary level for the first time with an array of scholarships and a tertiary loans scheme to enable Fiji’s young people to go on to higher education.
He said the vision is to cement Fiji’s place as a pre‑eminent Pacific Island nation, a true regional hub and a beacon of prosperity and progress for our smaller neighbours.
He added that Fiji intends to play a bigger role in the wider world to voice the collective concerns about issues as the environment, climate change and the need to create a fairer trading system to benefit our people in the Pacific and in art developing countries.
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