8 Oct 2014

International union body slams Fiji election

4:56 pm on 8 October 2014

The International Trades Union Congress says the Fiji election was deeply flawed.

Its General Secretary Sharan Burrow says deepening authoritarianism which was forewarned by the International Labour Organisation is still the order of the day in the country.

She says an ILO mission visiting Fiji will find abundant evidence of this and Fiji needs to fully restore internationally recognised labour standards if it is to avoid an ILO Commission of Inquiry in November.

Fiji's Government House.

Fiji's Government House. Photo: RNZ / Sally Round

The ITUC says the September election was marred by the complete absence of a free media, intimidation by public officials and extreme campaign restrictions placed on civil society organisations, backed up by stiff criminal sanctions.

In its preliminary statement an international election observer mission found the polls to be credible and broadly represented the will of Fijian voters.