Parliament will debate the Electoral Amendment Bill on Thursday which proposes that the Supervisor of Elections be given powers necessary to carry out his or her functions under the Act, including the power to direct a person, by notice in writing, to furnish any relevant information or document.
Clause 2 of the Bill amends section 2 of the Electoral Act by redefining the term “person” to mean a natural or legal person and includes a company, association or body of person, whether corporate or unincorporated, government department, nongovernmental organisation, statutory authority or any other entity.
While tabling the Bill in parliament under Parliamentary Standing Order 51 for the proposed law to be debated on and passed without delay this week, Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says there are various provisions of the Act that refer to ‘person’ however, it is necessary to clarify that ‘person’ does not only mean a natural person but also a legal person so as to extend the application of the provisions to incorporated, unincorporated as well as other entities.
He says this definition will also be useful in determining any contravention of the Act.
Sayed-Khaiyum also says without this specific power under the Bill, the Supervisor of Elections is unable to make enquiries to obtain information necessary for the Supervisor to arrive at decisions as required by the Act.
He says such powers are also extremely important to allow the Supervisor to conduct enquiries into allegations of breaches of campaign provisions.
He says various sections of the Electoral Act such as sections 116(4)(c),118, 141, 144 and 144A require the Supervisor to make certain enquiries in order to be satisfied as to whether or not a contravention under the Act has occurred.
Sayed-Khaiyum also says given that the 2022 general election will take place once Parliament is dissolved, it is necessary that such amendments are made expeditiously to avoid any potential procedural conflicts under the Act.
The Bill also amends the Electoral Act to allow the numbers used in an election of Members of Parliament to be used in any future election of Members of Parliament.
The Attorney General says as at 28th August 2022, there are 9 registered political parties in Fiji and the Fijian Elections Office is currently processing the application of another political party.
He says if the registration is approved, the total number of political parties contesting the 2022 general election will be 10.
According to the Act, each political party may nominate up to 55 candidates (being the total number of seats as determined by the Electoral Commission for the 2022 general election) and therefore the maximum total number of candidates that can be nominated through political parties is 550.
Sayed-Khaiyum says the Electoral Commission has already approved, through a publicly conducted draw, that the first number in the ballot paper will be 173. In applying the provisions of the Act, the FEO assigns the numbers in series from 173 until all the candidates have been assigned numbers.
The Attorney General says there is a likelihood that the series will repeat the numbers from the 2018 general election.
He says if such repetition occurs and section 36(7) of the Electoral Act is not removed, the validity of the entire election is at stake.
Sayed-Khaiyum says one must also consider that 4 years have passed since the last election and individuals will have likely forgotten the numbers from the last election.
The Bill also amends section 100 of the Act to allow the Electoral Commission to approve the method of packing unused, used and spoiled ballot papers after the count of the ballot papers.
In the event that there are 550 candidates, the ballot paper size will be 420 mm x 528 mm.
This will mean that not all the ballot material may fit into a ballot box after the count of the ballot papers.
Logistically, the weight of a ballot box will exceed 12.5 kg making it difficult to carry by hand.
Sayed-Khaiyum says it is therefore necessary that the Electoral Commission be empowered to consider the practicality of the operations in order to approve the best means for a transparent, safe and variable mechanism to transport ballot material from polling stations.
The new proposed electoral law is proposing that the Electoral Commission is empowered to adopt the latest guidelines and standards to apply to Fiji and the Supervisor of Elections is further tasked to vet compliance by any public opinion poll published in Fiji.
The Electoral Amendment Bill which will be debated and voted on Thursday without delay under Parliamentary Standing Order 51, provides that the Supervisor is required to verify compliance and to take necessary action to ensure that the guidelines are fully complied with.
Any appeal against the decision of the Supervisor under section 110A of the Act can be made to the Electoral Commission.
The Bill inserts section 110A to the Electoral Act to empower the Electoral Commission to adopt and publish guidelines on opinion polls, surveys and research related to elections, as it deems fit for the conduct of free and fair elections.
Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says to protect the integrity of the electoral process and the results of the general election, it is necessary that all public opinion polls in Fiji adhere to international standards and guidelines which, under the amendment, the Electoral Commission may adopt as part of its powers and functions under the Act.
We will have more on the Bill later today.
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