The Registrar of Political Parties has suspended the National Federation Party for 30 days with immediate effect.

A statement from the Fijian Elections Office said the party contravened Section 26 (2) of the Political Parties (Registration, Conduct, Funding  and Disclosures) Decree 2013.

The NFP had provided its 2013-2014 Annual Audited Accounts to the Registrar which was published in the Fiji Sun newspaper on November 13, 2015.

The NFP accounts were not audited by an accountant certified by the Fiji Institute of Accountants.

“This was brought to the FEO’s attention in December 2015 by the FIA. We asked the company engaged by NFP whether it was a registered member of FIA and senior members confirmed that it was not.  This constitutes a breach of Section 26(2) of the Decree,” said Mohammed Saneem, The Registrar of Political Parties.

The NFP has 60 days to remedy the breach/contravention or face de-registration as a Political party.

During this period of suspension, NFP can not operate, function, represent or hold itself out to be a political party.