27 Feb 2014

Fiji political parties call for Attorney General to keep away from electoral office

10:19 am on 27 February 2014

A political grouping in Fiji is calling on the Attorney General to stay away from the Electoral Commission, after he called for the sacking of staff.

The United Front for a Democratic Fiji says Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum is interfering with the election process and Commodore Bainimarama should sack him for misconduct.

The comments follows the police interviewing Electoral Commission employees over a missing laptop from the office.

The Criminal Investigation Department said it was trying to recover the laptop, while the Commission chairman, Chen Bunn Young, said an internal investigation was underway.

Mr Sayed Khaiyum says the laptop contains sensitive information and the two employees allegedly involved should be sacked immediately.

But Mick Beddoes, from the UFDF, says it's for the commission to decide on the course of action, and Mr Sayed-Khaiyum clearly has not come to terms with the independence of the commission, and wants to influence its direction.