March 2009 Elections Doubtful

There are now clear indications that it may be difficult to have the next elections in March 2009.

The date for the political forum to discuss the changes to Fiji's electoral system is yet to be confirmed and there is still no indication on whether all the key stakeholders including political parties will attend the forum.

Interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama stated to the visiting EU delegation last week that the next elections will be held after the electoral reforms are put in place. He also said that the elections will be delayed if all the stakeholders do not participate in the forum.

The timeframe for the forum on when they are supposed to come out with the final outcome on the electoral system is yet to be set. The Electoral Commission had stated to the National Council for Building a Better Fiji that Fiji needed a truly democratic electoral system if we are to have a truly democratic elections.

It had also recommended that all communal seats be scrapped and we have all open seats for the elections where there is no voting along ethnic lines. However, the SDL, NFP and United People's Party have made it clear that any changes to the electoral system must go through an elected parliament.

On preparations for the elections, the Boundaries Commission is trying to finish its work by the end of this year. Following this process, the voter registration and education process needs to be conducted. This is expected to take a large part of 2009 which means that having elections by March 2009 is almost impossible.