AG and 5 Political Parties clash over Saneem’s post and elections portfolio assigned to Sayed‑Khaiyum

The leaders of the five Political Parties are calling for the removal of the Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem and the scrapping of the elections portfolio assigned to the Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed‑Khaiyum.

In a joint statement, the Social Democratic Liberal Party, National Federation Party, Fiji Labour Party, the People's Democratic Party and the Fiji United Freedom Party say free and fair elections are not possible in a situation where the ruling FijiFirst Party is exercising extraordinary control over the electoral machinery and the electoral process.

They are saying that Mohammed Saneem’s initial appointment in 2013 had been questioned as he did not meet the minimum qualifications required for the position, as advertised.

The five political parties have also objected to the recent amendment to the Electoral Act which was passed in Parliament, appointing the Supervisor of Elections as secretary to the Electoral Commission.

They say the amendments also prescribe powers to the Supervisor to overturn the results of the count of a ballot box by a Presiding Officer and to do a recount.

The leaders of the political parties say the amendment compromises the Electoral Commission which is the appeals body from the decisions of the Supervisor and is a subversion of the independence of both the Supervisor and the Commission.

The five political parties have also claimed that rulings by the Supervisor of Elections particularly in relation to the eligibility of political party candidates nominated for the 2014 election showed his alleged bias towards the Fiji First Party.

The leaders of the five political parties added that the Elections ministerial portfolio held by Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed‑Khaiyum since 2008 is wrong in principle.

They say that it is wrong for the General Secretary of the ruling party to hold the elections portfolio at the same time as being Attorney General drafting laws and changing the rules for elections in which he will participate.

The parties say the current situation allows the FijiFirst General Secretary to actually control the process and make the rules as Fiji moves towards the next general elections and this is a serious conflict of interest that the Prime Minister must remedy to assure the people of Fiji that their right to vote in free and fair elections.

Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed‑Khaiyum highlighted earlier this week that the constitution is clear in relation to the roles of the Electoral Commission and the Fijian Elections Office.

He says the Minister Responsible for Elections essentially looks at the legal aspects and they do not tell the Fijian Elections Office and the Electoral Commission on how to run their operations.

Sayed‑Khaiyum says one can go and ask the former Electoral Commission members if they were told how to run their office.