The Fiji Labour Party says the continuing delay in the appointment of a Supervisor of Elections appears to be part of a planned strategy to delay the election scheduled for September.
The chairman of the Electoral Commission, Chen Bunn Young, has been quoted in local media saying the appointment is not urgent, but Labour's Mahendra Chaudhry says it should be the first priority of the commission.
Mr Chaudhry says without a Supervisor of Elections senior staff cannot be appointed and that delays logistical preparations for an election a little over five months away.
He says after the delays caused by the government trashing the Ghai constitution, this seems like another excuse to allow the postponing of the poll.
"Now we are told that the Electoral Decree and regulations are being formulated and everybody is busy doing that. Now the Supervisor of Elections should be a key figure in the formulation of this legislation but he is absent from the whole process so it is just very very suspicious."
Mahendra Chaudhry.
