13 February 2022

The Fijian Elections Office [FEO] confirms that 2 political parties have written a letter to the FEO. This letter was sent to us after the close of normal business hours on Friday, 11 February 2022. As is the normal practice, a comprehensive response will be made on Monday, 14 February 2022 to both parties.

A preliminary point that needs to be made known is that one of the signatories, Seni Nabou of NFP attended 4 sessions of election preparation meetings in 2021 and it is noted with concern her allegations in paragraph 2 of her letter. The FEO also conducted a comprehensive presentation on election preparation plans for all political parties on 30 September 2021 which was broadcast live on Facebook. Both signatories attended this briefing.

We note that the parties have chosen to send copies of their letter to the media in the weekend without according the FEO the courtesy of time to reply. The FEO will make further statements after it has responded directly to the parties.

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