“Bring it on!” That’s the challenge from National Federation Party (NFP) general-secretary Seni Nabou to FijiFirst party general-secretary Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum in the wake of a complaint he made to Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem about a video by a New Zealand-based NFP supporter.

Nabou claimed the video was extracted from a live stream of the party’s last rally in the lead up to the 2018 General Election at Rishikul Primary School and it had been “edited”.

At a press conference on Tuesday evening, Sayed-Khaiyum said he had sent a letter of complaint to Supervisor of Elections (SoE) Mohammed Saneem.

He said it was in reference to a video circulating on social media where Auckland-based NFP supporter Ahmed Bhamji was seen saying that the “Tertiary Education Loan Scheme (TELS) is a lifetime slavery”.

NFP general-secretary Nabou said the image submitted by Sayed-Khaiyum to the SoE had been “deliberately edited to show only Mr Bhamji because the full image, which we have provided as evidence, proves beyond any doubt when the statement was made”.

“The evidence he has submitted shows it was extracted from a “Vote for Change” Facebook page,” Nabou said.

‘Free from dictatorship’
She said the NFP has never been associated with the “Vote for Change” page and all their official social media pages had been submitted to the SoE.

Nabou said the video was extracted from a live stream of the party’s last rally in the lead up to the 2018 general election at Rishikul Primary School.

“Whatever it is, bring it on. We will not be trampled nor derailed from our vision to once again make Fiji a land of hope and opportunity, free from the dictatorship and thuggery of two-man rule.”

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Leaders of four political parties in Fiji are calling for a “complete clean-up” of the Elections Office before preparations for the 2022 election get underway.

A joint statement endorsed by the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) leader Viliame Gavoka, Freedom Alliance Party leader Jagath Karunaratne, Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry and Unity Fiji party leader Savenaca Narube also called for an investigation of the Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem, for alleged misbehaviour.

They claim that Saneem had made “haphazard and uninformed decisions” and should be investigated.

The leaders said they would take legal action against Saneem if they did not receive a response from the Constitutional Offices Commission (COC).

The four leaders have given seven days to the Constitutional Offices Commission (COC) to respond to their complaint against Saneem.

A joint statement by the leaders stated that they had lodged a complaint against Saneem to the chairman of the commission, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama on August 20.

“Our lawyers have delivered a follow-up letter to the COC chairman on November 9, demanding that the commission replies to our original complaint within seven days, or we will take legal action,” the joint statement said.

‘Sufficient grounds’
“In our initial letter of complaint to COC, we had cited what we believe were sufficient grounds under the Constitution to appoint a tribunal to investigate the misbehaviours of the SOE.”

The leaders claimed that the government was quick to suspend Solicitor-General Sharvada Sharma when the state lost its case against MP Niko Nawaikula.

“Likewise, we call on the commission to immediately suspend the SOE pending the appointment of a disciplinary tribunal.

“In our view, the misbehaviours of the SOE are much more flagrant than what is alleged against the SG.”

They also said in November 2016 the Court of Appeal had ruled against Saneem on legal action taken by the Electoral Commission regarding the eligibility of two candidates in the 2014 General Election.

The statement noted that Saneem had disallowed the candidacy of a Fiji Labour Party candidate but allowed a candidate of the FijiFirst Party to contest the election despite a ruling against those decisions by the Electoral Commission.

‘Gross misbehaviour’
“The insubordination by Mr Saneem of the directive of the Electoral Commission is gross misbehaviour and, under normal disciplinary rules of the public service, should have led to his summary dismissal. The statement claimed that four court proceedings in recent years had gone against the SOE,” the statement said.

“We believe that most people have lost confidence in the incumbent SOE. His misbehaviour must be investigated as soon as possible.

“The people need to regain trust in the election administrators of the nation.”

Questions sent to Saneem and Bainimarama remained unanswered when The Fiji Times went to press last night.

Litia Cava is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Fiji Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum’s “petulance” has become tiresome and unnecessary, says prominent lawyer and advocate Graham Leung.

He made the statement in response to Sayed-Khaiyum’s criticism of lawyers in the Court of Disputed Returns case restoring Opposition MP Niko Nawaikula to the electoral roll last week.

Sayed-Khaiyum claimed that the lawyers in the case “did not do a good job” arguing the case, after the court ruled that the Supervisor of Elections had “acted wrongfully and unlawfully” in removing Nawaikula from the National Register of Voters (NRV).

Leung said the Attorney-General’s comments were unprofessional.

“As leader of the bar, to be publicly criticising lawyers that are party to litigation where he is a defendant, frankly, his petulance has become tiresome and is unnecessary,” he said.

“If the Attorney-General wishes to be respected in the legal profession and beyond, he should start showing respect. Throwing a tantrum when you lose a case is not what we expect from the Leader of the Bar.”

Leung said Sayed-Khaiyum appeared to be criticising the lawyers in his own department.

Support for MP’s case
Leung, who represented Nawaikula in the case alongside Jon Apted and Simione Valenitabua, said they represented their client to the best of their abilities.

“We did what we were asked to do, which was to support his case for reinstatement to Parliament.

“As far as we are concerned, the Solicitor-General and his legal team conducted themselves admirably.

“This is the same team that the Attorney-General relies on to do the ‘heavy lifting’ in his chambers and we can only empathise with them that they appear to have been used as a scapegoat for how the case turned out.”

In a press conference in Suva last week, Sayed-Khaiyum said counsel for the Supervisor of Elections and Nawaikula did not do a good job.

“None of the counsels actually listened to the proceedings with the submissions that were made, none of them talked specifically about the implications of not having the correct name registered and one name registered,” he said.

“The implications of any constitutional breaches, nobody talked about that. The Constitution says, specifically under Section 52, that there should be free and fair elections.

“So how can one have free and fair elections if you have the ability to register your name more than once?”

Jale Daucakacaka is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz