The People’s Alliance is calling on the Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem to follow due process when handling complaints and concerns raised by political parties.
Speaking in a press conference today, Deputy Leader Manoa Kamikamica says before Saneem formalized his decision to dismiss the party’s complaint that was filed against the FijiFirst Party on the 3rd of this month, it was well observed in the papers that Saneem belittled their position by saying the complaint was only one to two pages that were carried by the dailies.
He says Saneem was later quoted as saying that he was confused about The People’s Alliance complaint and he was not sure who the party was complaining against.
Kamikamica claims Saneem was already discrediting their complaint about vote buying before due process was completed.
He adds they are fully cooperating with FICAC regarding the removal of financial documents from their party headquarters by FICAC Officers as they have nothing to hide.
The Deputy Leader says they only came to know that two of their provisional candidates have been referred to FICAC after the statement was issued by Saneem on Thursday.
He says due process was not followed again here and Saneem issued the statement before he left for Vanuatu without formal notification to the People’s Alliance Secretariat.
Kamikamica says they were also not notified that two of their members have been referred to FICAC for probable breaches of Sections 114, Section 116(3)(h) and Section 140 of the Electoral Act.
He says as of Friday, Dan Lobendahn still has not received a letter from the SOE as due process would require.
In response to the bus receipt touted by Saneem as a clear linkage between the People’s Alliance and the Rock the Vote, Kamikamica says when the President of the Youth Alliance Western Division Lesi Taucitagi heard the report by Saneem 2 weeks ago, she had approached the bus company highlighting that they had made an error and the money was Taucitagi’s personal money and the bus company amended the receipt in Taucitagi’s personal name.
Kamikamica says to date, the Supervisor of Elections has not written to them to show a copy of the receipt or tried to talk to Taucitagi about how she paid for the bus and the background.
He says this is a massive breakdown in due process and calls on Saneem to follow due process.
He adds the Attorney General and General Secretary of the FijiFirst Party mentioned last week that The People’s Alliance should not talk to the media as it will compromise due process, but this is a farce as he himself started all this by publicly announcing their complaint against The People’s Alliance with much fanfare.
Responding to the statement by Saneem on Thursday, Kamikamica says The People’s Alliance maintains that the responsibility of one government minister over several portfolios that to some extent deal with complaints raised with the Supervisor of Elections could still be seen to affect independence or impartiality.
He says at the very least the FEO could have referred the party’s complaint to the Electoral Commission for their opinion.
We have sent questions to Saneem and he is yet to respond.
