Minister for Health Dr. Ifereimi Waqainabete says enacting and enforcing legislation such as the common national identity and electoral reforms such as a non‑racial electoral system and the Tertiary Educations Loans Scheme initiative cannot foster social cohesion unless a social change whereby the attitudes and mindsets of Fijians are shaped to embrace these changes.
While speaking at the Dialogue Fiji Forum on Social Cohesion at the Pearl Resort, Dr. Waqainabete says these ideologies must be mainstreamed and sustained in the long‑term and is beyond successive governments.
He elaborates that these issues include building social cohesion, peace‑building in divided societies, addressing radicalization through hate speech and fake news and building trust in the election institutions and processes in order to strengthen electoral outcomes and quality of democracy.
He says an issue impacting the nation is misinformation given through social media about the last election.
Dr. Waqainabete says in 2018, some individuals deliberately made statements to discourage people from trusting in the electoral process. This resulted in a voter turnout of 71.9% compared to 84% in 2018.
He also says that in the last elections, fake news such as the sale of Kadavu to China, the loss of Itaukei land and the nation in bankruptcy existed.
Dr. Waqainabete adds that as recently as Monday the 23rd, fake news from a few weeks earlier of possible instability despite reassurances still caused some anxiety.
He adds that these perpetrators of fake news that intends to create fear‑mongering, instability, panic and distrust between communities must be condemned for their acts.
He says the basis of organizing such forums is to bring together a cross‑section of the Fijian society, including the government agencies, civil society organizations, academia, media, youth and women, the private sector and faith based organizations, is to talk about issues impacting the nation and identify solutions to address them.
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