29 May 2013

Fourth political party gains registration in Fiji

7:01 pm on 29 May 2013

Another political party has been registered in Fiji under the regime's tough new Political Parties Decree.

The People's Democratic Party is the fourth party to gain registration allowing it to operate legally in the run up to elections promised for 2014.

The Registrar of Political Parties, Mohammed Saneem, says after irregularities in the party's membership list were discounted, he was satisfied the party's application met the minimum requirements of the decree.

Parties have to have a minimum of 5,000 paid-up members and the PDP registered with more than 6,000.

The party has not contested a Fiji election before.

The PDP is backed by the Fiji Trades Union Congress whose leader, Felix Anthony, broke away from the Fiji Labour Party amid dissatisfaction with Mahendra Chaudhry's leadership.