25 Apr 2006

No final roll, just 11 days before Fiji election, says Labour

4:31 pm on 25 April 2006

The Fiji Labour Party has expressed fresh concerns about what it says are irregularities in the general election process.

Radio Fiji quotes the party leader, Mahendra Chaudhry, as saying issues such as the registration of voters and recruitment of polling officials are still to be clarified.

Mr Chaudhry says this needs to be done to ensure free and fair elections.

He says he has contested five general elections but in that time he has never seen the Office of the Supervisor of Elections in such a mess as it is at present.

Mr Chaudhry says in the past the final electoral rolls were available at least three weeks before polling but this time they still do not have the final rolls which will be used for polling in just 11 days.

He says they cannot find out whether all the errors and omissions that were pointed out to the Elections Office have been corrected until the final rolls are published.