An aspiring Fiji politician says despite restrictions imposed on independent candidates, with a well-funded and resourced campaign it is possible to succeed in the September elections.
The Electoral Decree says the nomination of an independent candidate must be accompanied by 1000 voter signatures and needs to be approved by the Electoral Commission.
It also says independents must get five percent of the vote nationwide to get into government - the same threshold imposed on political parties.
Roshika Deo says with hard-work, getting five percent of the vote is doable.
She says her main concern is the requirement to submit the 1000 signatures during the nomination phase in August - just one month out from the election.
"If we submit the 1000 signatures during the writ of nomination phase, then there's a very limited timeframe for them to get back to us if we need to collect more signatures, if some signatures have been dropped, or if there's some kind of issue. And it's a very small window timeframe before the writ of nomination phase finishes for us to be then confirmed as a candidate."
Roshika Deo says the 1000 signatures should be submitted earlier.
