Electoral Comm says Chaudhry’s request appears to be founded on unsubstantiated grounds

The Electoral Commission says it does not have any jurisdiction to create an independent panel of inquiry after the Fiji Labour Party Leader Mahendra Chaudhry asked them for a thorough analysis of the Donors List of the FijiFirst and the method it employed in getting $7.5 million in donations between 2014 and 2019.

Commission Chairman Suresh Chandra says the Registrar has gone through the accounts of the FijiFirst and found that there was no need to duplicate the process through another purported independent body.

He says they have written to the FijiFirst for its response and had also written to the Registrar asking him to provide details in relation to the actions taken by the Registrar.

Chandra says the Commission has also assessed the responses from the Registrar of Political Parties in a meeting held on the 14th of January and have accepted that the Registrar has carried out substantive inquiries in relation to the donations to the FijiFirst.

He says they have also accepted that the Registrar in making verification has dealt with the legal provisions under the Political Parties Act 2013.

Chandra says they also found that that the request Chaudhry has made appears to be founded on unsubstantiated grounds lacking merit in particular on the purported breaches of the Act and they have declined his request.

In his response to the Electoral Commission, Mahendra Chaudhry says he has taken legal advice on its contents.

Chaudhry says contrary to the Commission’s observations, he is advised that the powers of the Commission are not limited and it can appoint an inquiry or order an investigation into any matter which comes under its purview.

He says a thorough analysis of the Donors List of the FijiFirst is needed as this suggests that some large corporate entities, close to the party’s hierarchy, have allegedly donated corporate funds disguised as personal donations.

Chaudhry also questions what other conclusion can be drawn from the fact that the donors from some corporate entities included everybody from grandfathers to grandchildren, each generously donating the maximum of $10,000.

He says the statement of the Commission that the Registrar of Political Parties has gone through the accounts of the FijiFirst, does not adequately deal with the issue at hand.

Chaudhry also questioned if the Registrar in his examination of the FijiFirst accounts verified whether the donations were made in cash, personal cheques or corporate cheques.

He says their request for an inquiry is founded on substantiated grounds that the major donors have allegedly benefitted personally or through their companies being given contracts.

Chaudhry says many of them were appointed to lucrative positions like diplomatic missions, Boards of statutory bodies and government commercial companies and these facts are plain as daylight for those who want to see it.

The FLP Leader says the entire situation is preposterous and the appeal provisions and the timelines for lodging complaints against the decision of the Registrar as mentioned are not relevant to the issue under consideration.

Chaudhry has reiterated their call for an independent inquiry into the matter.