Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, assured every Fijian that the 2022 General Election would be free and fair.

He made the statement following comments by opposition political parties and social media commentators questioning the transparency and credibility of the upcoming elections.

Prime Minister Bainimarama said just like the 2014 and 2018 elections, the 2022 elections would certainly be free and fair.

“Rumours of unfair elections serve only to scare the general public and cause societal disruptions. I assure every Fijian that we will have elections before the cut-off date of January 2023.”

“The FEO is making necessary preparations for free and fair elections and we don’t want to fast track elections and leave any Fijian behind from exercising their right to vote.”

Compliance

He added that changes had been made to the Electoral Act to ensure compliance guidelines are fully complied with.

“The changes will enable the electoral commission to publish these guidelines on opinion polls and surveys.

“The electoral changes are necessary to deal with the weight and size of ballot papers since there is a possibility of having 10 registered political parties

“One might ask why a small country has 10 political parties, well this is the fundamental right enshrined in the 2013 Fijian Constitution which grants every citizen the right to form a political party.”

He added that once they had fulfilled their duty to the Fijian people with all the electoral processes, the writ of election would be issued by the President.

“It is imperative that all necessary mechanisms are in place to ensure all eligible Fijians are able to vote. Once all these important prerequisites are met, the date of elections will be confirmed,” PM Bainimarama said.

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