6 Feb 2014

Call for Fiji Electoral Commission to address regime advantage

4:28 pm on 6 February 2014

The leader of the Fiji Labour Party says the Electoral Commission must address the huge advantage enjoyed by the regime as the country gears up for elections in September.

The recently appointed commission has agreed to a meeting with political parties next week to discuss the election.

The Labour leader Mahendra Chaudhry will be raising a number of issues such as the government issued decrees which he says place severe restrictions on a party's ability to campaign.

Mr Chaudhry says the regime is exempt from everything they've imposed on others.

"At the moment the regime is dominating, prime minister Bainimarama has said that he is going to form his own party, he's been campaigning at public expense for a long time now, and he has a pitch over other political parties. Now will this situation prevail in the lead up to elections?"

Mahendra Chaudhry says they still don't know how the elections will be conducted, and about 20 percent of eligible voters are yet to be registered.