Person on behalf of NFP misconstrued the Electoral Act requirements and was asking if NFP’s candidates could be vetted by FIU - Saneem

The Fijian Elections Office says the provision under the Electoral Act does not require any candidate to be vetted through the Fiji Financial Intelligence Unit, and there is absolutely no requirement in the law that any candidate of a party be vetted by FIU.

Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem says it is misleading to allude that a vetting/ certification is a pre-requisite for nomination in Fiji.

He says it appears that the person who attended a FEO meeting on behalf of the NFP misconstrued the requirements under the Act and was asking if NFP’s candidates could be vetted by FIU. The FEO urges registered officers of all parties to thoroughly familiarize themselves with the Electoral Act to avoid confusion. When in doubt, parties can always write to the FEO for clarification or seek independent legal advice.

The nomination of candidates for the 2022 general election will be governed by section 23 of the Electoral Act.

Under the Act, a person is eligible to be nominated as a candidate for election to Parliament only if the person is a citizen of Fiji, and does not hold citizenship of any other country; is registered in the Register of Voters; is ordinarily resident in Fiji for at least 2 years immediately before being nominated; is not an undischarged bankrupt; is not a member of the Electoral Commission, and has not been a member of that Commission at any time during the 4 years immediately before being nominated; is not subject to a sentence of imprisonment when nominated; has not, at any time during the 8 years immediately before being nominated, been convicted of any offence under any law for which the maximum penalty is a term of imprisonment of 12 months or more; and has not been guilty of any offence under a law relating to elections, registration of political parties or registration of voters, including any offence prescribed under the Act.

The Supervisor of Elections, in approving the nominations follows the requirements of section 23(4) and no other ancillary matters are considered.

Saneem says going into the nomination for the 2022 General Elections, they urge all the political parties particularly the office holders of the parties to ensure that they convey the accurate information in relation to the requirement for nomination and subsequent electoral processes to the party members.

Saneem says if they mislead the members of the party by telling them that there is certain requirements in the law or that certain requirements have been put in place by Fijian Elections Office that does not exist in law or nomination form, then such parties must take their own responsibilities to deal with such misrepresentation by its officials.

The FEO has always maintained the clear stance on requirements for nomination and this has been provided to all registered political parties in a meeting that the Supervisor of Elections held with them via zoom dated 16th August 2022.