The suspension of the Fiji Labour Party has been lifted after it paid nearly $3,500 US dollars to the Registrar of Political Parties today for the publication of the Party's financial disclosures in the Fiji Sun.
The party leader Mahendra Chaudhry says there was never a refusal to pay the bill and they just wanted time while they waited for a response from the Commerce Commission over the newspaper's charges.
But Mohammed Saneem suspended the Party for failing to comply with a provision of the Political Parties Decree and Mr Chaudhry says they feel they're at the mercy of the Registrar.
"We asked for his cooperation and understanding until we got a response from the Commerce Commission but in the meantime he proceeded to suspend the registration of the party which we felt was quite wrong, all we wanted was time."
Mahendra Chaudhry says they were advised that the Fiji Sun could have condensed the publication of their records, saving them at least $2,000 US dollars.
The Commerce Commission last week said it didn't have the jurisdiction to rule on the complaint.
