20 Mar 2008

Fiji boundaries commission to meet election date target

4:32 pm on 20 March 2008

The Joint Pacific Islands Forum /Fiji Working Group has received a commitment from the Chair of Fiji's Constituency Boundaries Commission that it intends completing its work well in time for elections in March next year.

The Joint Working Group, which has now met 25 times, will report on this progress to Pacific Forum Foreign Ministers when they meet in Auckland next week.

The Group says the formal boundaries process needs to start next month to ensure preparations stay within the timeline which envisages completion by November.

It also says that the Commission needs external technical assistance and says appropriate requests should be made quickly through the Elections Donor Coordination Committee.