A recent investigation by The Fiji Times has found that former attorney-general and FijiFirst party (FF) general-secretary Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum did not declare the value of shares he owns in two companies, as per the asset declarations filed with the Fijian Elections Office since 2017.

Section 24 of the Political Parties (Regulation, Conduct, Funding and Disclosures) Act requires political party officials to disclose to the Registrar of Political Parties their “total assets”, together with the total assets of their spouses and dependent children.

Between 2016 and 2022, Sayed-Khaiyum’s asset declarations stated he and his wife Ela were shareholders in two companies, Midlife Investments Pte Ltd and Abide Pte Ltd.

In his declarations for the years 2016 through to 2022, Sayed-Khaiyum declared monetary values for his home in Vunakece Rd, Suva, his bank accounts and a motor vehicle.

He also declared that he and his wife held shares in the two companies.

However, for the shares listed, the column “value declared” was left blank in each of the declarations.

Sayed-Khaiyum has not responded to questions emailed to him by The Fiji Times.

Meri Radinibaravi is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Fiji’s former Elections Supervisor Mohammed Saneem is under investigation by the country’s anti-corruption agency for alleged abuse of office and has been stopped from fleeing the country.

The Fijian Elections Office (FEO) said Saneem was alleged to have “on numerous occasions . . . unlawfully authorised payments of sitting allowances” to members of the Electoral Commission (EC) and has been referred to the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC).

The FEO said the Constitutional Offices Commission had clarified to Saneem that the allowance for the chairperson and members of the EC remained at the same rate of FJ$500 (NZ$356) per person, per meeting.

Saneem, however, had continued to instruct for allowances to be paid to the commission’s members for attending events other than meetings, including social functions.

According to Section 5 of the Electoral Act 2014, meetings held by the Electoral Commission are to be determined by the chairperson or a majority of the members of the Commission.

The Electoral Commission could also hold meetings virtually.

The FEO said the former elections boss — who was suspended last month and resigned this week — “continued to deviate from this and constantly gave instructions for payment of FJ$500 allowance to the Electoral Commission members”.

Attorney-General Siromi Turaga confirmed to Fijivillage News that Saneem had been trying to board a flight to Australia on Friday morning but was stopped by border officials as he was now under investigation by FICAC.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Water bottles, umbrellas and fans were common accessories for voters across Fiji today. Lines at polling stations nationwide grew quickly in the early morning, as Fijians tried to beat the midday heat.

Lines at the University of the South Pacific’s Statham Campus polling venue at Suva Point extended across the hot carpark.

In spite of the early morning rush by voters to cast their ballots, by midday Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem noted that voter turnout “is not looking very promising” as only 164,954 voters at 1145 polling stations (27.24 percent of the total registered voters) had cast their ballots by 11am.

He urged every registered Fijian voter to come out and vote, and to make use of the free public transport to get to polling venues in their localities.

“The weather is good, the polling venue is ready, the line is gone, all you have to do now is show up and vote,” Saneem said during the midday Polling Day update at the National Results Centre in Suva.

“If you have voted, check in on your family members who haven’t voted. Take them out and make them vote. Spend the next 5-6 hours to get family members to go out and vote.

“If you need transport on election day, send an SMS of your VoterCard number to 1500. That SMS reply will tell you the number and details of the person monitoring public transport in that area.

‘Go and vote’
“This free public transport service will continue until 4pm so make use of it now, go and vote.”

With temperatures expected to reach 30 deg. Celsius by 1pm, with some voters raised concerns about the lack of shelter in open spaces for queues.

Voter and mother Asinate Colovanua said even although Fijians were used to the heat, there could have been provisions for water and shelter, especially for the older citizens waiting in line.

Elderly voters were eventually offered shelter in air-conditioned cars as they waited their turn to vote at the polling station.

Meanwhile, Saneem reminded Fijian Elections Office staff to refrain from introducing entry requirements for polling agents.

“There were a few issues from the field in relation to candidate agents. I’d like to clarify to FEO staff, you have to let polling agents in. There is no requirement to have their agent appointment forms stamped, do not introduce this as a requirement,” he said.

The 2022 General Election is the third post-2006 coup election and is set to be significant for cementing democracy. The number of registered voters exceeds both the 2018 and 2014 elections.

As many as 606,092 Fijians are expected to cast their votes at 855 venues today.

Fiji’s 2022 General Election will close after the last voter in the queue at 6pm has voted. The commencement of counting is expected to start thereafter with provisional results to be announced by 8pm.

Published in collaboration with the University of the South Pacific journalism programme’s Wansolwara News.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Scores of people along the Nasinu-Suva corridor lined the premises of their designated polling stations as early as 6am today to cast their votes in the Fiji 2022 general election.

While polling venues opened at 7.30am, the light morning drizzle did little to deter voters from exercising their democratic right to vote.

As many as 693,915 Fijians have registered to vote in this year’s election, majority of voters are expected from the Central Division — 9916 had applied for postal ballot, while 77,907 Fijians registered to vote for pre-polling.

At 7.15am, accredited media participated in a walk-through to take photos and videos at the Suva Grammar School polling station before the first vote was cast at 7.30am.

Last night, Supervisor of Election Mohammed Saneem urged employers to allow their employees to take at least half a day or the morning session to cast their vote after receiving concerns were raised by some employees that their employers were given them ultimatums to either turn up to work at 9am or ‘face the axe’.

“It is not proper for any employer to force their employees to come to work without having voted. Is not only unjust, but it is unconstitutional.

“I cannot apply Section 141 in this circumstance… I would like to invite every single employer in this country to consider Section 23 (2) of the Constitution which reads, ‘Every citizen has the right to free, fair and regular elections for any elective institution or office established under this Constitution’.

“The Constitution does not make any allowance for any person to make law that will prohibit a person from voting. This means that neither Parliament nor an employer has the authority to stop a person from voting. They must allow their employees to vote,” Saneem said.

Voting time for employees
The Fijian Elections Office, he said, had been advocating for employers to allow employees to vote and then report to work.

He said the FEO would not hesitate to take people to court if necessary, if they did not allow employees to vote in the morning, or during the day.

“Employers must immediately rectify all their plans and allow voters to go and vote. Two hours is not enough, you must allow them enough time, that means half the day,” Mr Saneem said.

The 2022 general elections would be Fiji’s third elections under the new electoral system, which features the Open List PR system established through provisions of the 2013 Constitution, and Electoral Act 2014.

Today, 606,092 Fijians will cast their votes at 855 venues. Fiji’s 2022 General Election will close after the last voter in the queue at 6pm has voted. The commencement of counting is expected to start thereafter with provisional results to be announced by 8pm.

Published in collaboration with the University of the South Pacific journalism programme’s Wansolwara News.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

More than 606,000 Fijians are expected to head to the polls today to elect a new Parliament for a four-year term.

This is the country’s third election under the 2013 constitution and since the 2006 military coup.

In the race are 343 candidates from nine political parties and two independents vying for a seat in the 55-member Parliament.

Voting is taking place at 855 polling stations from 7.30am to 6pm Fiji time, or until after the last voter in the queue at 6pm has voted.

The Fijian Elections Office has announced that all voters will be provided free transport today.

Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem said a call centre had been set up for voters — it will be staffed by 40 personnel and operate between 7.30am and 6pm.

“There are 16 venues around the country that are not voting at the location we had previously advertised for various reasons, please take note of the new locations, we will be putting up big sign boards outside these venues. So it will direct you to the new location anyway,” Saneem said.

“We will also upload the the maps to the new places so that you are able to locate it in case you are trying to find out it will be available on the FTO Facebook page,” he said.

90 observers
More than 90 observers from 16 countries and two regional organisations — the Pacific Islands Forum and the Melanesian Spearhead Group — will monitor polling, counting and tallying of the ballots.

In the lead-up to the election, the Multinational Observer Group (MOG) observed no irregularities.

The MOG said there were no significant issues that would prevent registered voters from casting their ballot during pre-polling, postal voting or on election day.

“I would like to acknowledge the statement received released by the multinational observer group in relation to tomorrow’s [Wednesday’s] election. And we look forward to the entire country [which] has waited for the last four years for this very important day,” Saneem said.

“Remember, decisions are made by those who turn up. If you do not turn up, do not complain. So ladies and gentlemen, from tomorrow [Wednesday], we’ll see you at 7.30am at any of our 1600 polling stations. Mark your ballot papers correctly and have your vote counted,” he said.

A total of 77,907 Fijians were registered to vote for pre-polling over the last week.

However, only 54,244 Fijians cast their votes.

Weather on voting day
Fiji is well into the cyclone season and as it has been raining heavily for periods over the weekend, it could affect voter turnout.

The 2018 election was heavily impacted by bad weather and Saneem said they were planning for the worst but hoping for the best.

• The blackout on campaigning, political advertising and media reporting of political issues, which started at midnight Fiji time on Sunday, will be lifted at the close of polling at 6pm today.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz