Commissioner of Police Ben Groenewald is urging all political parties, candidates, members of the media and the public to abide by the restrictions of the Electoral Decree as the country has entered the political campaign blackout period this morning.
Groenewald said members of the regular force were deployed at 6 this morning and will be on operations on a 24 hour basis.
He said they are well equipped to deal with any incidents and will not tolerate any breach of law.
Groenewald said as of this morning he has deployed two of his Assistant Commissioners to head their contingents in the Northern and Western Division respectively, as part of the election operations task force.
He said the push forward of manpower has been done to ensure the Fiji Police can conduct Election duties as well as routine police operations without hindrance as they focus on providing a safe and secure environment for every Fijian.
According to the Police Commissioner his officers have been tasked with operations duty for both the pre/post-election period and he will keep them deployed until he is satisfied there is no immediate need to have extra numbers on the ground.
He is again urging that all political parties, election candidates, voters and other members of the community to behave in accordance with the law and participate with due diligence to see to a free and fair election.
