Fiji parties challenge ballot design

Transcript

Fiji's opposition parties are planning legal action to change the design of the ballot papers for the planned general election.

The Fiji Electoral Office has abided by an electoral decree which states the papers can only refer to candidates by an assigned number, and must not feature names or party symbols.

The leader of the National Federation Party, Biman Prasad, told Christopher Gilbert the paper as it stands is an obstacle to free and fair elections.

BIMAN PRASAD: "In any true democracy people vote for candidiates, people vote for political parties, people identifiy a political party's symbol. What the ballot paper has done, it renders all these issues useless because basically what happens after the candidates have filed a nomination, they're all reduced to numbers. So when voters get into the polling booth they simply get a ballot paper with a set of numbers. Now, that is our concern because not only is it going to confuse a lot of people but also I'm concerned about those who are illiterate, those from the rural areas, and those who need assistance. Voters make decisions as to how they're going to vote on the basis of what the party is offering, what the leader of the party is offering, and what the candidate is offering. So they put all that together and then decide which candidate, which political party, and which political leader to support."

CHRISTOPHER GILBERT: "What hope do you have that the Fiji Election Office will listen to that? Aren't they just adhering to the electoral decree?"

BP: "We are asking, we have written to the chairman of the electoral commission and we are disappointed that the chairman of the electoral commission has not bothered to even acknowledge our letter. We do hope that the electoral commission will take this into account. We understand that it is already part of the decree but that decree can be changed. I mean, this is what we're saying, that it is not too late to change the decree, to change the format of the ballot paper to reflect the wishes of the people who want a free and fair election in this country. You can't have a credible and free and fair election if the ballot paper itself is confusing for a large majority of the people in this country."

CG: "The same concerns have been brought up by the Fiji Labour Party, the People's Democratic Party and the Social Democratic Liberal Party, as well as your own party. What power do you have to influence this change?"

BP: "Well, I mean we think we represent the views of a large majority of the people in this country and right now we are expressing our concern. We are asking the electoral commission, we're asking the government, we're asking the supervisor of elections to look at this. I have also said according the legal advice I receive that we could mount a legal challenge on the ballot paper itself, on the basis that it may be contravening the constitutional provision of a free and fair election based on the ease of which voters are able to vote."