Electoral Commission weighs campaign suspension request

The Electoral Commission has yet to decide whether General Election campaigning will be suspended during the National Referendum campaign period, as the Fijian Elections Office (FEO) begins preparations for the December 9 vote while continuing its General Election preparations.

The Commission confirmed it would consider and determine Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s request for General Election campaigning to be suspended until after the return of the Writ for the Referendum.

Under section 15(2) of the National Referendum Act, the Commission will determine whether General Election campaigning and related activities governed by Part 4 of the Electoral Act 2014 should be suspended for all or part of the referendum campaign period.

The Commission said it would announce its decision at a later date.

It must also determine and announce the campaign period for the National Referendum.

At the same time, preparations for the upcoming General Election will continue.

Supervisor of Elections Ana Mataiciwa said the FEO had already begun its work.

“For the FEO, there is a lot of work ahead of us, but that work has already started. Our teams are ready, and our preparations are moving forward. Our priority is to make sure Fijians know what they need to do, where they can get assistance and where they can get information they can trust.”

CDD opposes suspension

The Centre for Democracy and Dialogue (CDD) has written to Electoral Commission chairperson Justice Usaia Ratuvili urging the Commission not to suspend General Election campaigning.

CDD chief executive officer Nilesh Lal argued that the constitutional conditions necessary to trigger the referendum had not yet been satisfied because the Constitution Amendment Bill had not completed its third reading.

“This raises an obvious and important legal question: how can 9 December be treated as the legally fixed referendum polling day when the Constitution Amendment Bill has not yet passed in accordance with section 160, no referendum writ could yet have been issued pursuant to that process, and the statutory mechanism for fixing the polling day has therefore not been completed?”

CDD argued that section 15(2) of the National Referendum Act was conditional upon there being a day fixed for voting at a referendum.

“Accordingly, in CDD’s view, the statutory precondition for the Electoral Commission to exercise the power under section 15(2) has not arisen. Any purported suspension of general election campaigning under section 15(2) at this stage would therefore be unlawful and beyond the power presently conferred on the Commission by that provision.”

CDD also questioned Mr Rabuka’s request to the Commission.

“Section 15(2) places that discretion in the Electoral Commission, not in the Prime Minister.”

It said the Electoral Commission must exercise its own independent judgment.

“The legislation provides that the Commission ‘may determine’ whether a suspension is imposed. It neither requires the Commission to impose one nor empowers the Prime Minister to direct it to do so.”

CDD said the General Election was constitutionally required and argued that the referendum remained contingent on constitutional steps that had not yet occurred.

“The general election is constitutionally required. The proposed referendum is presently contingent upon constitutional steps which have not yet occurred. A contingent process should not be permitted to interfere with or compress the conduct of a constitutionally mandated national election.”

Meanwhile, postal voting applications for the National Referendum are now open.

The FEO confirmed that registered voters do not need to register again for the referendum, with existing voter registration covering both the General Election and National Referendum.

Ms Mataiciwa urged voters to get information directly from the FEO.

“We expect people to have questions, and we want them to ask us, speak to our teams when they come to your community, visit your nearest Voter Services Centre or follow our official platforms. We want Fijians to receive the correct information directly from the FEO rather than rely on information that may not be accurate,” said Ms Mataiciwa.