People want constituencies back – Fatiaki agrees it may be possible without changing the 2013 Constitution

Chair of the Electoral Law Reform Commission and former Chief Justice, Daniel Fatiaki, says people attending consultations on the electoral laws have unanimously called for the return of constituencies and he says the thought that we might be able to introduce constituencies into our electoral system without even touching the 2013 Constitution is exciting.

While speaking during public consultation at Bhawani Dayal Memorial Primary School, a Farm Road, Nausori resident, Samula Savu suggested removing the one constituency system.

He says this may have nothing to do with the electoral legislation and maybe more to do with the Constitution, but an article by Professor of Comparative Politics at Victoria University of Wellington, Jon Fraenkel suggests that this can be done within the current framework.

Savu also says there should be name of candidate or at least party symbols on ballot papers which would make it much better for identifying candidates.

He also supported suggestion for lowering the threshold of 5 percent of total voted needed to get into Parliament.

While responding to the submission, Commission Chair Daniel Fatiaki says the 2013 Constitution does not use the word ‘constituency’ in it.

Meanwhile, Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre Manager Legal, Miliana Tarai, questioned whether the Commission received any submissions regarding amendments to the electoral laws during the election year, as they have seen amendments being made to give more powers to the Supervisor of Elections—creating the perception that these changes were used as a political tool to favour the government in power.

While responding to the question, Commission member Doctor Deidre Brooks says this is being looked at with reference to international best practices, particularly regarding when it is appropriate to amend electoral laws and when there should be a period free from such changes—subject to any genuinely urgent adjustments that may be required.

Dr Brooks says sometimes election management body will identify that there is an administrative challenge and tidy it up. She adds they recognise that, particularly in Fiji, some very challenging laws were introduced very close to the election, which made things especially difficult for political parties as well as for some civil society organisations at the time.

Public consultations on the review of the Electoral Act 2014, the Electoral (Registration of Voters) Act 2012, and the Political Parties (Registration, Conduct, Funding and Disclosures) Act 2013 will continue next week.