3 May 2013

Bainimarama says party registration is proof elections will be free and fair

12:33 pm on 3 May 2013

The Fiji regime leader, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, says the successful registration of three political parties is proof next year's election will be free and fair.

His comments follow news the government has re-registered two established parties, the NFP and the Labour Party, and registered SODELPA which was forced to form out of the old SDL.

Commodore Bainimarama has told Radio Tarana he finds it funny to see what he calls the old faces lining up again and sitting together after scrapping like schoolboys in the past.

"These are the people who brought Fiji to its knees. Now they want another chance, I guess to mess the country up again. A few days ago they were bleating and harping about me preventing them from contesting the election. That's what they wanted to say to the world, (that) this whole process is a sham. Because they know that ending voting along racial lines is going to weaken them."

Commodore Bainimarama says he'll form his own party over the coming months to contest the elections he has promised for September next year.