The Fijian Elections Office has confirmed to fijivillage News that they have not received any notice of resignation from SODELPA member and former SODELPA leader Ro Teimumu Kepa following her appointment as Chairperson to the TSLS Board.
In a statement, they say they have followed up with SODELPA and are awaiting confirmation from the party on whether a notice had been submitted to them.
They say in some instances political party members provide their resignation to the party but this is not forwarded to the Registrar of Political Parties.
According to section 14(1) of the Political Parties (Registration, Conduct, Funding and Disclosures) Act 2013, a public officer shall not be eligible to be an applicant, member or hold office in a registered political party. The Act further defines a Public Officer to include any person holding any office or membership of a statutory authority, a commission or a board established by or continued in existence by any written law.
The FEO says they have been informing political parties of this legal requirement and the need for their members to adhere to it.
They further say if there is any complaint received with regards to those political party members breaching this legal requirement, they will not hesitate to deal with the complaint and escalate it to the relevant authority for further investigation.
