I refer to the statements made in the media by representatives of People’s Alliance. The following information is necessary to provide clarity:
- The Fijian Elections Office [‘FEO’] acknowledged the People’s Alliance complaint on 03 October 2022.
- Our preliminary assessment did not find any prima-facie’ breach of the Electoral Act.
- The FEO forwarded the complaint to FijiFirst on 04 October 2022 for its response which is due by 5pm on 12 October 2022.
The FEO will consider the complaint and the information it receives from the response before determining the next course of action.
The FEO also noted that the Fiji Sun had incorrectly published an article titled “No Need For Caretaker Government To Be Appointed: Saneem” in the 05 October 2022 newspaper. The FEO attaches a correction for errors on the said article. The clarification notice is attached to this media statement.
We have noticed that People’s Alliance has repeatedly failed to comprehend how the legal system operates in terms of breaches of campaign law. Today’s press conference once again demonstrates this lack of capacity. In clarifying their misconception, we provide the following:
Section 6 (1)(f) of the Electoral Act states that the Supervisor of Elections [SoE] oversees compliance with campaign rules and reporting requirements. In the event there are probable breaches of the campaign rules, the SoE will refer the same to FICAC. Thereafter, FICAC will determine, on the basis of evidence and the law, whether it could prosecute the offence in Court. Neither the SoE nor FICAC are the final arbiters as that is the role of the Courts under the Constitution.
-Ends-
