Cabinet approves new regulations for municipal elections

The Government has taken a major step toward restoring municipal council elections after Cabinet this week approved the Electoral (Local Government Elections) Regulations 2025.

The new regulations set out the rules and procedures for local government elections and will replace the outdated 1972 Local Government (Elections) Regulations under the Local Government Act.

The move comes after years of public anticipation for the return of municipal polls, which were last held in 2005.

Meanwhile in an earlier interview, Supervisor of Elections Ana Mataiciwa said it was highly unlikely municipal council elections would be held in 2025 due to unresolved legal and regulatory issues.

She highlighted that key decisions were still pending, including the finalisation of ward boundaries, councillor numbers, and the conduct of the polls.

“Pending issues, so this includes the regulation of the conduct of the local government election, the boundary for the wards and the number of councillors,” she said at the time.

Mataiciwa explained that once a writ for elections is issued, the legal timeline requires approximately 95 days to complete the process, making it difficult to fit into the remaining months of 2025.

Despite this, she reaffirmed the Fijian Elections Office’s (FEO) readiness.

“Whether it be this year or next year, we’re still ready to conduct the local government election because we’re here to serve our functions and because we’ve also been preparing for it. We’ve got the resources ready, but now it’s just a matter of actually conducting it and making awareness towards it,” Mataiciwa said.

The approval of the new regulations signals progress, but the exact timing of Fiji’s first municipal elections in 20 years remains uncertain.