Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem has stated in a press conference last night that the full voter turnout will not be released until today when the results are known.
Saneem says this is the way it has been since 2014.
When questioned on claims by some parties that the FijiFirst General Secretary was present in the vicinity of the Count Centre in a vehicle registration KT700 and another vehicle on Friday night, Saneem says he has no records of this and asked to be provided with the proof.
He stresses the FijiFirst General Secretary was not inside the Count Centre.
The Party Leaders of the Fiji Labour Party, The People's Alliance, Unity Fiji and the National Federation Party are demanding that the Fijian Elections Office release the official count numbers of total votes cast.
They say the last update was issued at 4pm on main polling day, and nothing has been released since the close of the poll.
They insist that the full and complete final results pending the recounts, in an Excel sheet, not as being issued sporadically in batches at the Results Centre so that party’s can verify the accuracy of the results because of their continued distrust of the Result Management System and the glitched app.
The Party Leaders also want to express their shock and disgust at the sudden interruption of the count without reason and the inhumane eviction of their count agents from the Count Centre just before midnight on Friday.
They also question the sudden questioning by police of Sitiveni Rabuka, the People's Alliance Party Leader, and his Party General Secretary, Sakiasi Ditoka and the Head of the Methodist Church, Reverend Ili Vunisuwai, on Friday night.
They say the sudden, rude and inhumane eviction by police officers of their count agents at that midnight hour on some pretence that the "tents had expired", were highly irregular and suspicious acts.
The Leaders say what worsened the situation in their view was the sheer lack of humanitarian empathy for their count agents, many of them young volunteers, who had to move their mats, lights, sustenance supplies and personal effects from the Count Centre premises when public transportation in that area was unavailable.
They say that only 2 agents are permitted into the Count Centre now, and boxes to be recounted are those for high invalidity rate.
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