Following the announcements by the Government on the date of the National Referendum on 9th December, 2026, the Electoral Commission and the Fijian Elections Office state they will now proceed with the preparations required for the National Referendum.
They also confirm that at the same time, preparations for the upcoming general elections will continue.
One of the Electoral Commission's immediate responsibilities will be to determine and announce the campaign period for the National Referendum.
In accordance with section 15(2) of the National Referendum Act, the Electoral Commission will also consider and determine whether general election campaigning and related activities governed by Part 4 of the Electoral Act 2014 are to be suspended for all or part of the referendum campaign period.
The Electoral Commission will provide its decision on this request from the Prime Minister at a later date.
Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Justice Usaia Ratuvili, reiterates that the coming period will require the Electoral Commission and the FEO to manage preparations for two important electoral processes.
Supervisor of Elections, Ana Mataiciwa, reiterates that the FEO's focus will now turn to the practical work needed to prepare for the National Referendum and make sure voters can access the information and services they need.
Postal voting applications for the National Referendum are now open.
Eligible voters who qualify for postal voting are encouraged to apply early via this link https://services.feo.org.fj/Postal.
The FEO is encouraging voters who intend to apply for postal voting not to wait until the last minute and apply now, they are also encouraged to understand the requirements before submitting their application.
Existing voter registration will cover both the general elections and the National Referendum.
Voters are, however, encouraged to check that their registration details are correct.
Meanwhile the Centre for Democracy and Dialogue (CDD) has written to strongly urge the Electoral Commission not to suspend campaigning for Fiji's constitutionally mandated general election on the basis of the proposed constitutional referendum.
CDD Chief Executive Officer, Nilesh Lal says at present, the constitutional conditions necessary to trigger that referendum have not been satisfied.
Lal says the Constitution Amendment Bill has not completed its third reading and has therefore not yet been passed in accordance with section 160 of the Constitution.
Section 160(3) states that if a Bill for the amendment of the Constitution is passed by Parliament in
accordance with subsection (2), then the Speaker shall notify the President accordingly, who shall then
refer the Bill to the Electoral Commission, for the Electoral Commission to conduct a referendum for all registered voters in Fiji to vote on the Bill.
Lal also says this raises an obvious and important legal question: how can 9th December be treated as
the legally fixed referendum polling day when the Constitution Amendment Bill has not yet passed in accordance with section 160, no referendum writ could yet have been issued pursuant to that process, and the statutory mechanism for fixing the polling day has therefore not been completed.
He says the same difficulty arises in relation to any proposed suspension of general election
campaigning.
Lal says section 15(2) of the National Referendum Act does not create a general power to suspend
an election campaign whenever a referendum is contemplated.
He adds the Constitution Amendment Bill has not completed its third reading, the Speaker cannot yet have made the notification contemplated by section 160(3), the President cannot yet have issued the referendum writ pursuant to that process, and no referendum polling day has therefore been lawfully fixed under the Act.
The Centre for Democracy and Dialogue says any purported suspension of general election campaigning under section 15(2) at this stage would therefore be unlawful and beyond the power presently conferred on the Commission by that provision.
The CDD is also concerned by the Prime Minister's statement that he has written to the Electoral Commission requesting that general election campaigning be suspended.
It says section 15(2) places that discretion in the Electoral Commission, not in the Prime Minister.
Lal says the Commission must therefore exercise its own independent judgement.
He says this is particularly important because the request comes from the Prime Minister, whose political party is itself a contestant in the election which the Commission is responsible for fairly and impartially administering.
Lal further says they are also very deeply concerned with how Fiji is making a mockery of its national
elections.
He says this latest move is another assault on the integrity of elections.
The National Referendum will be held on 9th December this year if the vote in Parliament on 2nd November gets 66 percent support of the Members of Parliament.
The referendum result is expected to be announced by 14th December.
The last day for the writ of elections to be issued is 24th December this year and the last date for general elections to be held is 6th February 2027.
