Parliament to sit tomorrow to elect and appoint Fiji's President

Parliament will sit again tomorrow to elect and appoint the country’s President as current President Jioji Konrote’s first three year term comes to an end on November 11th this year.

According to the constitution, the President holds office for three years, and is eligible for reappointment for one further term of three years, but is not eligible for reappointment after that.

President Konrote is eligible for another term and all indications are that Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama will nominate Konrote’s name again for reappointment for his last term as President.

According to the country’s constitution, the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition each submit a presidential candidate to the Speaker of Parliament, who then announces the nominees to MPs before parliament decides on the country's next president with a majority vote.

In the presidential election held in parliament on October 12th  2015, Konrote, nominated by the FijiFirst, got 31 votes, while the opposition's candidate Ratu Epeli Ganilau received 14 votes.

It is not known whether the opposition will nominate another name for President this Friday.

Leader of Opposition Ro Teimumu Kepa could not be reached for a comment.

SODELPA Leader Sitiveni Rabuka also could not be reached for comments.

National Federation Party Leader Professor Biman Prasad says they cannot guarantee whether they will be in parliament for the election of the President on Friday.

He says they only received the notice of the parliament sitting today and they believe that the parliamentary business committee should have been called and ample notice should have been given.

Professor Prasad says the business committee comprising of the party leaders and their representatives would have been a good way to achieve consensus because this is a very important national position as the President’s Office signifies unity and goodwill.

When asked by Fijivillage on whether they will attend parliament on Friday, Professor Prasad says he cannot confirm at this stage. He also says that he cannot say anything on the opposition’s nomination for President.

When asked by Fijivillage on whether the National Federation Party will back the renewal of President Konrote’s term, Professor Prasad says he cannot confirm that.