The Attorney General and Minister for Elections, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said there is no conflict of interest with him holding the Elections Minister’s position and the General Secretary’s post in the proposed FijiFirst.
The Fiji Labour Party and the National Federation Party have called on Sayed-Khaiyum to resign as the Minister for Elections after taking up the position in the proposed party.
FLP Leader, Mahendra Chaudhry said the FLP will continue to voice its concerns about this.
National Federation Party General Secretary, Kamal Iyer also said Sayed-Khaiyum must resign as Elections Minister immediately because he accepted the political appointment.
However Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the two parties are not taking a principled position as they did not call for any resignations in the past when Ministers responsible for general elections were holding political party positions.
Sayed-Khaiyum said the FLP and NFP are always changing their stand from one year to another just to suit them as seen in this case.
According to our check of the government gazettes, Sitiveni Rabuka was the Minister responsible for Elections in 1999 while Laisenia Qarase was the Minister responsible for Elections in 2001 and 2006.
Meanwhile the Attorney General has labeled many statements by the political parties as unprincipled and not based on issues.
Fiji Labour Party President, Lavinia Padarath has now stated that the FLP will write to the President, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau to register its protest against Sayed-Khaiyum continuing to hold the Elections Minister’s post.
Padarath maintains that the electoral process will be tainted if Sayed-Khaiyum remains the Minister for Elections.
Story by: Vijay Narayan
