Objection period for election clearly defined by Court of Appeal

The objection period for general election proposed candidates has now been clearly defined by the Fiji Court of Appeal and it has also been declared that the Supervisor of Elections should comply with the directions and decisions of the Electoral Commission.

This is after an appeal by the Electoral Commission before the Court of Appeal to seek a declaration on these matters.

The determination by the High Court was that the objection period for the nomination ended at 4pm however the Fiji Court of Appeal has said that the time limit of three days in the Electoral Decree end at midnight on the third day.

In August 2014, the Electoral Commission upheld an appeal by PDP against Parveen Bala=s nomination for the September 2014 election saying he was a public office holder at the time of his nomination. Bala was the special administrator for Lautoka, Ba and Tavua.

However the Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem had said at the time that he had received independent legal advice from the Solicitor General and the commission's decisions were delivered after the deadline expired at 4pm hence it was deemed as no objections were received by the Fijian Elections Office.

The decision does not have a retrospective effect and the declaration was sought to have clarity for future elections.

The Court of Appeal has also declared that the Constitution and the Electoral Decree require the Supervisor of Elections to comply with the decisions and directions given to him concerning the performance of his functions by the Electoral Commission.   

The lawyer for the Electoral Commission, Bhupendra Patel had earlier submitted to the Fiji Court of Appeal that the Supervisor of Elections should have waited and acted on the advice by the Electoral Commission on objection issue.

The commission had said that the candidate nomination period should end at midnight however the Supervisor of Elections got legal advice and stopped the nomination period at 4pm.

Patel further told the court that the Electoral Commission is not challenging the outcome of the results of the 2014 general elections but they want the court to clarify the law whether the Supervisor of Elections is bound to follow the instructions from the Electoral Commission.

Solicitor General Sharvada Sharma who represented the Supervisor of Elections in this matter told the Fiji Court of Appeal in his submission that there is no challenge to the results of the previous election and the Electoral Commission is only seeking declarations.

Sharma also told the court that if it is to do with upholding the law or the constitution, then a subordinate can overrule a superior.

Meanwhile the Fijian Elections Office says that it has received the copy of the judgement and notes that the judgement does not affect the outcomes of the 2014 General Election.

The Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem will now peruse the judgement and also seek legal advice to consider if a further appeal is necessary.

He says currently the declaration made by Court of Appeal will definitely provide guidance for future elections.