The chief of the yavusa Cawanisa, mataqali Navinoji of Lewa Village in Ba, Ratu Tevita Ramasei III, has withdrawn his intention to form a new political party and has instead aligned himself with Unity Fiji.
Ratu Tevita formalised the arrangement with Unity Fiji party leader Savenaca Narube in Suva last week.
Narube welcomed the decision, expressing gratitude to the chief, his family, and the members of the Yavusa Navinoji for placing their trust in Unity Fiji.
“We thank Ratu Ramasei, his family and the members of the Yavusa Navinoji for their confidence in Unity Fiji to raise incomes from their resource,” Narube said.
“Despite many promises, we have seen no progress for decades. The landowners have been left behind. We intend to change that with our economic transformation program which will raise incomes for the entire country.”
Narube said the partnership would see Ratu Tevita’s group focus on the economic development of their people, guided by Unity Fiji’s policies and direction.
He noted that the yavusa Cawanisa could also propose candidates to contest under the Unity Fiji banner.
“The two groups may discuss changes to the relevant laws and government policies to help the development of all the people of Fiji,” Narube added.
He stressed that resource owners remain among the poorest in the country, despite being central to Fiji’s economic foundation.
“The resource earners are some of the poorest in Fiji,” he said.
“Many attempts have been made in the past to raise their livelihoods, including military coups, but they have all failed. I believe that the integrated transformation program that Unity Fiji has developed is innovative and will strengthen all the links in the chains of development, including access to machines, technology and finance.”
