21 Mar 2006

Fiji's Labour Party takes court action to delay election

8:10 pm on 21 March 2006

The Fiji Labour Party has filed a writ asking the High Court to order delaying or postponing the general elections until the Elections Office complies with all sections of the electoral laws.

Radio Fiji reports that Labour leader Mahendra Chaudhry's writ has named the supervisor of elections, the Electoral Commission and the attorney general as defendants.

Among the complaints raised by the party are the substantial errors and irregularities in the voter registration process.

The writ says Mr Chaudhry had written several letters to the office of the supervisor of elections in a follow up to complaints by Labour MPs.

It says that in response to a complaint by Labour MP Vyas Deo Sharman, the supervisor of elections admitted his failure to revise or publish electoral rolls.

The writ says this is in breach of mandatory requirements of the election laws.

Earlier, a newspaper report quoted the supervisor of elections, Semesa Karavaki, as saying his office had nothing to hide and was preparing for the elections according to the Electoral Act.