The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission and Chief Guest Ms. Barbara Malimali,
Members of the Electoral Commission,
Your Excellencies members of the Diplomatic Corp,
The Secretary General to Parliament and representatives of Statutory Bodies,
Permanent Secretaries and representatives of Government Ministries and Departments,
Representatives of the Disciplined Forces,
Leaders and Representatives of Political Parties,
Heads and Representatives of Civil Society & Media Organizations,
Distinguished Guests,
Members of the Public joining us via live stream,
FEO Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Bula vinaka and a very blessed morning to all of you.
It is indeed an honor for me to warmly welcome you to the launch of the Fijian Elections Office [“FEO”] 2024 – 2027 Strategic Plan and the Elections Disability Access Working Group or EDAWG 4-Year Workplan.
Allow me, to begin by thanking you all for finding the time out of your busy schedules to be with us during this launch. This is a clear demonstration of the importance of your contribution to the electoral processes of our beloved nation.
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen since its establishment in 2014, the FEO had developed two (2) Strategic Plans. They were the 2015 – 2019 Strategic Plan and the 2020 – 2023 Strategic Plan. The latter, guided the FEO in its preparation for the 2022 General Election.
The implementation of these Strategic Plans had enabled the FEO to conduct successfully the 2018 and 2022 General Elections. In doing so, the FEO was also able to implement new initiatives and innovations that saw a small organization like the FEO punch well above its own weight. The FEO was able to achieve a rate of 80% completion of milestones set out in its 2015 – 2019 Strategic Plan and a completion rate of 84% to date for the 2020 – 2023 Strategic Plan.
On this note, I would like to thank the FEO team that were with us in the conduct of these General Elections for their commitment and dedication. Without your unwavering support and sacrifice, the FEO wouldn’t be where it is today. I would also like to thank the former Supervisor of Elections Mr. Mohammed Saneem for his guidance and leadership during his time with the FEO.
Now earlier this year certain circumstances presented itself and this paved a way for change. Barrack Obama once said “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change we seek.”
Bearing this in mind, this change provided an opportunity for FEO to be restored to its original intent, not just conduct Elections in Fiji but to ultimately serve the Fijian people efficiently and effectively in the delivery of its electoral services.
We began this change by conducting a thorough review of the processes involved in the 2022 General Election. This review encompassed both internal and external perspectives. As a unified team, we approached this task with humility and engaged with you, our stakeholders, providing you a safe space to give us your honest and valuable feedback on your experience with our previous election conduct. This feedback sessions played a key role in shaping the foundational documents that supports the Strategic Plan that we are unveiling today.
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, the 2024 – 2027 Strategic Plan is built upon a mission of delivering electoral services that have the trust and confidence of our stakeholders and a vision of excellence in the conduct of elections that strengthens democracy in Fiji.
You may wonder how we plan to achieve this vision and mission. Allow me to outline some key initiatives:
1. Restoring Trust and Confidence: We are dedicated to rebuilding the trust and confidence of the Fijian people in the FEO. This will be achieved not only through proactive engagement with our stakeholders, which we have begun this year and will continue to do so throughout the entire electoral cycle.
But, also by operating independently in accordance with the rule of law and being impartial as well as a-political in our electoral operations.
2. Eliminating Administrative Hurdles: Our goal is to make the electoral processes user-friendly for all Fijian Voters. To accomplish this, we will ensure that processes for conducting elections are designed with the end user in mind, aiming to eliminate any administrative obstacles that could hinder voter participation.
3. Service-Oriented Approach: The FEO will continue to deliver voter services to all Fijian voters that is professional, efficient, consistent and accessible.
4. Good Governance and Accountability: We will implement best practices that are transparent to our stakeholders and we will take ownership as well as responsibility of our actions and decisions.
5. Innovation and Creativity: We will be at the forefront of our efforts. We will implement innovative solutions to meet the evolving needs of voters and enhance the quality of services we provide.
6. Collaboration with Stakeholders: We will actively collaborate with our stakeholders, including media and civil society organizations, to deliver civic education, voter education and engagement initiatives to Fijian voters. This partnership approach is essential in creating a well-informed voting population that could positively result in the increase of voter participation.
On the FEO’s collaboration with stakeholders, I am delighted that today the Election Disability Access Working Group or EDAWG is also presenting their 4 Year Work Plan. This in itself is a testament to our new direction and I would like to thank the EDAWG Chair and Director Operations Ms. Anaseini Senimoli, representatives of Organizations for Persons living with Disabilities or OPDs, the Pacific Community (SPC), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and all those that contributed to the work plan, for their collaborative efforts to see this Workplan come into fruition.
At this juncture, I would further like to thank SPC and theUSAID for making today’s launch possible. Your assistance and support are greatly appreciated.
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, to conclude, it would be remiss of me to not thank all collaborators that assisted the FEO Strategic Planning Team in delivering this Strategic Plan, namely; the International IDEA who assisted us by bringing the strategic planning ‘Guru’ Mr. Antonio Spinelli to Fiji in the initial stages of the Strategic Plan as well as our stakeholder partners for your valuable feedback and active participation.
Yesterday Mr. Antonio Spinelli had an opportunity to peruse our 2024-2027 Strategic Plan and in his own words stated that “The new plan is state of art, the reader can see the level of effort that it has been put into its development for what is now a very neat, consistent, concise but comprehensive document setting an ambitious but viable/realistic strategy for the next 4 years. It is also a major breakthrough compared to the previous plan.”
So, to all staff of the FEO who for the first time were actively involved in the formulation of this Strategic Plan, thank you for your commitment, thank you for going outside of your comfort zone, thank you for activating your humility spirit and thank you for your team effort.
Though this is a time for celebration, let me also remind you that you have been called for such a time as this not only for the organisation but also for the nation, so this is the time for action, time to act upon your calling.
As we embark on this journey of implementing the measurable objectives in this Strategic Plan, we might face opposition and counter conversations but when we do I am encouraging you to please be still, be strong and be very courageous. Always remember that you are the gatekeeper of democracy in Fiji so always seek the Lord’s guidance continuously as you face the adversities and obstacles head on.
With those words, I thank you for your attention, and we eagerly anticipate the journey ahead.
Vinaka Vakalevu.
