NFP says there are no laws on a government going into caretaker mode during an election period

National Federation Party Leader Professor Biman Prasad says there are no laws on a government going into caretaker mode in Fiji during an election period.

Prasad says the report of the Multinational Observer Group after the 2018 elections emphasised the need for the government to go into caretaker mode after observing how FijiFirst Ministers were opening projects, handing out funds and making major policy decisions even during the period of Writ of Elections.

He says understandably, the FijiFirst government did not adopt this recommendation when amending the Electoral Act in June last year.

Prasad says apart from the absence of any laws on a government going into caretaker mode before elections, which is the normal practice in a genuine democracy, this government has avoided getting parliament to enact the Code of Conduct legislation despite first tabling 6 years.

The NFP Leader has made the comments after the Electoral Commission announced the campaign period for the elections shall commence on 26th April and end 48 hours before the elections.

Prasad says they have already seen the government electioneering and apart from the cosmetic change in the law prohibiting ministers from using government vehicles for campaigns, they are free to do as they like and simply don’t care of the consequences to the nation and the economy.

He says while all these are happening, they are required to furnish detailed information on how they will fund their promises despite not knowing the real picture of the economy or the treasury as he claims this government is an expert in cooking statistics.

Prasad says if they don’t do this, then they are threatened with prosecution and conviction. The NFP Leader says these laws make the campaign platform an animal farm.

He further says no matter what this government does, it will be rejected by the people at the polls.

We have sent questions to the Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum regarding issues raised by Prasad. He is yet to respond.

Sayed-Khaiyum had stated before the 2014 elections that the government will remain in office as the previous governments have done before the elections.