Bula Vinaka Fiji,

I offer my sincerest apologies for this interruption, but I believe that it is very, very important for me at this point to address an issue that has been brought to our attention in relation to tomorrow’s election.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Fijian Elections Office has received various complaints from employees that they have been directed by their employers to turn up to work tomorrow, or face the axe. Ladies and gentlemen, it is not proper for any employer to force their employees to come to work without having voted.

Unfortunately, ladies and gentlemen, I cannot apply Section 141 in this circumstance, because 141 says:

“During the campaign period, any person who hinders or interferes with the free exercise or performance by any other person, of any political right or duty that is relevant to an election commits an offence and shall be liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or to both.”

This is the time that I would like to take this opportunity to invite every single employer in this country to consider Section 23 (2) of the Constitution which reads:

“Every citizen has the right to free, fair and regular elections for any elective institution or office established under this Constitution.”

Subsection (3) reads:

“Every citizen who has reached the age of 18 years has the right—

 (a) to be registered as a voter;

(b) to vote by secret ballot in any election or referendum under this Constitution”

Ladies and gentlemen, the Constitution does not make any allowance for any person to make law that will prohibit a person from voting. This means that neither Parliament nor an employer has the authority to stop a person from voting. They must allow their employees to vote.

In this regard ladies and gentlemen, the Fijian Elections Office has been advocating for employers to allow employees to vote and then report to work.

We note that we have been previously asking that employers allow employees at least half the day that is the morning session for them to go and vote. However, we are now getting reports that employers are forcing employees to report to work at 9am or face the axe. That ladies and gentlemen is not only unjust, but it is unconstitutional.

If any employee has been directed by their employer to come to work at 9am, and not go and vote, please take this time tonight to report it to the Fijian Elections Office. We will tomorrow report this matter to the Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission. And if necessary, the FEO itself will petition the High Court against that employer because we want all employees to be able to go and vote in the morning.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I know that the employers will always go back and say that it is a public holiday, which does not stop us from opening our businesses, but ladies and gentlemen, it is the election.

It is the constitutional right of every voter to go and vote. And it is not the time for employers to force voters from not voting.

Section 44 of the Constitution says

“(1) If a person considers that any of the provisions of this Chapter has been or is likely to be contravened in relation to him or her (or, in the case of a person who is detained, if another person considers that there has been, or is likely to be, a contravention in relation to the detained person), then that person (or the other person) may apply to the High Court for redress.

(2) The right to make application to the High Court under subsection (1) is without prejudice to any other action with respect to the matter that the person concerned may have.”

So, ladies and gentlemen, we will take people to court if necessary, if they do not allow you to go to vote in the morning, or during the day.

Employers must immediately rectify all their plans and allow voters to go and vote. And as we have been saying, two hours is not enough, you must allow them enough time, that means half the day.

So, ladies and gentlemen, the Fijian Constitution allows you as a registered voter to go and vote. If you are one of those people who have been threatened by the employer to be reporting towards or at 9am or else leave employment, you must report them immediately. The Fijian Elections Office and the Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission, will both take care of the situation and we will petition court for you to be allowed to go and vote.

It is the general election ladies and gentlemen, it comes every four years, and every employer in this country is being asked to be conscious of this matter and allow your employees to go and exercise their right to vote.

On this note ladies and gentlemen, if you are listening in right now and you are an employer or an employee, and you want to go and vote and you want to know about the free public transportation, SMS your VoterCard number to 1500, and it will message you back with your Polling Venue details, as well as the details of the person who is organizing free public transport in your area.

I apologize once again for the intrusion ladies and gentlemen but tomorrow is the general election and we would like every citizen who wants to, to be able to come and vote in the general election and we do not want a hindrance created by employment issues.

And on this note, I’d like to bring to the attention of every employer in this country, Section 6 (2) of the Employment Relations Act 2007, which clearly says that no person shall discriminate against any worker or prospective worker on the grounds of political opinion. And tomorrow is the date that the worker is going to express their political opinion of the highest order by voting.

So, there is a strict restriction in the Employment Relations Promulgation, and various agencies will now be involved and if any person is found to be restraining workers from coming to vote in the election, we will be taking strict action.

The one thing you have to do is you have to bring it to our attention before the day ends, so that we have sufficient time to take action.

At this point in time, ladies and gentlemen, we are urging all employers to once again remember Section 23 of the Constitution and we urge you, we sincerely urge you to release people to go and vote.

It is the general election, and it is absolutely the right of every single voter to go and vote. Please do not restrain people from voting.

With that said ladies and gentlemen, we are also calling on employers’ organizations to combine and repeatedly issue statements and reminders to your members to allow people to go and vote.

Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. We look forward to seeing you at 7:30am tomorrow morning. Come early, vote early and have the day to yourselves.

Thank you, Vinaka Vakalevu and and see you tomorrow Fiji. It’s time to vote.