Registrar rejects FijiansFirst application

The Registrar of Political Parties, Ana Mataiciwa, has rejected the application to register the proposed party FijiansFirst.

Ms Mataiciwa confirmed that objections were received from two political parties — the National Federation Party (NFP) and The People’s Alliance (TPA).

The objections centred on the unauthorised use of the coat of arms in the proposed party’s symbol, similarities between its symbol and that used by FijiFirst, the name FijiansFirst closely resembling the deregistered FijiFirst, and the likelihood that the party’s acronym could be FFP, which is associated with FijiFirst.

“Based on NFP and TPA’s objections on similarity between the proposed name FijiansFirst and FijiFirst, I find that the proposed name so nearly resembles that of the deregistered party “FijiFirst” as to be likely to be confused with or mistaken for that party within the meaning of section 8(h)(iii) of the Political Parties (Registration, Conduct, Funding and Disclosures) Act 2013 (PPA). Therefore, the application for registration of Proposed FijiansFirst is hereby refused,” said Ms Mataiciwa.

Section 8(h)(iii) of the Political Parties (Registration, Conduct, Funding and Disclosures) Act 2013 states the Registrar shall refuse an application to register a proposed political party if the name, abbreviation, acronym or symbol is the same as, or closely resembles, that of a political party which has been deregistered or wound up under the Act or any repealed law governing political party registrations.

Ms Mataiciwa said other objections raised by the NFP and TPA — including those relating to the symbol, the use of national imagery and the likely use of the abbreviation “FFP” — were considered but did not meet the statutory threshold under section 8(b) or section 8(h)(iii) of the Act and were rejected.

The proposed FijiansFirst may appeal to the Electoral Commission within 14 days of the decision, in accordance with section 30(1) of the Act.