Rabuka confident

SOCIAL Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) leader Sitiveni Rabuka is confident that differences within the party will not affect votes for the party in the coming general election.

In an interview with this newspaper, Mr Rabuka admitted there were still differences within the party.

He said there were party members who were still against his leadership. He said there were certain party members who were also against the inclusion of former People’s Democratic Party leader and SODELPA provisional candidate Lynda Tabuya into the party.

“Some people are still uncomfortable,” he said. “They are not looking at the party as a whole, they’re looking at their own position.”

Mr Rabuka said although the differences might still be there, it would not get in the way of his work as the party leader.

“I have never had any control or command of a unified unit,” he said.

“We have to deal with everybody because we all have our strengths and weaknesses and we all each have our contributions to make.

“Some of the contributions may be seen as distractive, it’s up to the leader to mold and make everybody work together and harmonise all our differences.”

He said the voters would be voting on what the party stood for in the upcoming general election, while those close to the candidates would be voting for what they knew about the candidates.

“They will be voting along these lines rather than voting for what one candidate thinks of another candidate.”