The Fijian Elections Office [‘FEO’] has this afternoon received the very first nomination by an independent candidate for the 2022 General Election.

In receiving the nomination, the Supervisor of Elections [‘SoE’], Mr Mohammed Saneem, stated that there were two (2) types of nominations for the general election; one being a political party list submitted by political parties and the other being an independent candidate who can be candidates contesting the election as well.

Noting that in 2018 there were no independent candidates in the election, the SoE said that: “There appears to be a greater confidence in the electoral platform and greater interest amongst individuals to participate in the electoral process by becoming candidates to contest the election.”

Furthermore, the FEO has extended its opening hours from 8am to 6pm to accommodate any person who may wish to file a nomination later on in the afternoon after close of business.

Going forward, the SoE expects more nominations to come towards the close of nomination date.