Jackson Fiulaua fought hard to secure his Central Kwara’ae seat in Malaita despite strong competition from his 16 opponents who contested the seat.
The victory, announced in provincial capital Auki on Saturday, earned the businessman his second term in parliament.
Fiulaua polled 1,558 ahead of his runner up Ben Bau who received 1,018 ballot – a winning margin of 540 votes.
Central Kwara’ae, the highly contested seat in Malaita, has a total registered voters’ list of 6,035.
The win however, did not go down well with a number of people who witnessed announcement.
“Why of all the candidates, people elected Fiulaua who hardly say a word in the last parliament?” one constituent asked.
Fiulaua is not well educated, but he is a successful businessman who owns a construction company, a motel in Auki, and other properties.
“We need good leaders for this particular constituency rather than electing someone who hardly contributes to debates and bills in parliament,” the constituent added.
He said there were a number of highly educated candidates who contested but people in the constituency instead voted someone with the least education.
“This result is truly surprising and a shock to many of us who want to see change and better leadership for Central Kwara’ae.
“It seems like people here cannot look beyond their noses.
“Are we going to go through the same sufferings that we’ve experienced during the last four years?
“People must be voting blindly.”
GEORGE MANFORD
in Auki
