November 21st is the last date the general elections can be held if parliament is dissolved on October 6th, this year.
While many people are calling for the elections date to be announced, the current parliament term is running and expires on the 6th of October.
It is now up to the Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama to decide on when he will advise the President Jioji Konrote as he has until October 6th to do that.
The mechanism is clearly provided in the constitution.
Following the conclusion of three years and six months of parliament, the Prime Minister may advise the President at any time to dissolve parliament and issue the Writ for the Election.
This is a necessity. This does not mean that parliament would have to convene and vote for a majority for parliament to be dissolved but it’s directly on the advice of the Prime Minister to the President.
The Writ for Election must be issued within 7 days from the expiry of parliament or from the proclamation of its dissolution by the President.
The last day for the receipt of nomination of candidates is 14 days after the date of the Writ.
The constitution also clearly states that polling commences no later than 30 days after the last day for the receipt of the nomination of candidates.
With the President reappointed for another three years today, there is no doubt preparations are now well underway to ensure that the Writ period is not disturbed in any way as his term was coming to an end on November 11th.
