The Fijian Elections Office [‘FEO’] received a complaint from The People’s Alliance on 15 July 2022 alleging breaches of Section 112 of the Electoral Act by FijiFirst. In accordance with principles of natural justice, the complaint was forwarded to FijiFirst for a response. The FEO received a response from FijiFirst on 19 July 2022.

The FEO has evaluated the complaint, particularly, the alleged breaches of section 112 of the Electoral Act and considered the response by FijiFirst and the law. The FEO found that:

a) The fifteen samples that were attached to the complaint were published on FijiFirst’s Facebook page but they were not physically printed and distributed;

b) Section 112 (1)(a) of the Electoral Act applies to printed material and therefore does not apply in this case;
c) The distribution of the materials were only in electronic mode through FijiFirst’s Facebook page which meant that it did not cost anything and no payments would be involved. In this case, section 112(1)(b) of the Electoral Act
2014 is not applicable;
d) There were no companies involved in the printing of the material which means section 112(1)(c) is not applicable; and
e) The date of issue of the material would be the date that the post was published.

We note that the People’s Alliance did not provide links, or screenshots of the actual posts which carried the material complained about. In the circumstances, the date of the post would be regarded as the date of issue.

In light of the above, the FEO does not find that FijiFirst breached Section 112 of the Electoral Act. The complaint appears to stem for a misconceived interpretation of the legal requirements and is therefore dismissed accordingly.