Precedent is not perfection – Smith-Johns

Fijians, and in particular the Fijian media, should not be looking to precedent as perfection.

This is the Fijian government’s statement following issues raised about the calling for applications from members of the public for the post of Voter Registration Clerks by the Ministry of Justice.

SDL Leader Laisenia Qarase said the recruitment of Voter Registration Clerks should be carried out by the Office of the Supervisor of Elections under the direct supervision of an independent Supervisor.

He said the government should re-establish an effective and independent office of the Supervisor of Elections and such an office should be independent from any government ministry, subject only to a relevant minister regarding its reporting requirements and budgetary provisions.

Qarase said it is not too late to change the decision and ensure that the entire election process is implemented by the independent office of the Supervisor of Elections.

He said this will protect the integrity of the voter registration process and ultimately the general election itself.

However in a statement issued by Permanent Secretary for Information, Sharon Smith-Johns, she said just like the purported democracy Fiji experienced before, processes for the previous elections were “independent” or “transparent” in name only.

She said despite having such things as an “Independent Electoral Commission” and an “independent” Supervisor of Elections, the 2006 elections were subject to anomalies and rife with mismanagement.

Smith-Johns said many of these issues were detailed in the EU observation mission report.
 
These include flawed registration processes, lack of integrity in the electoral roll, inappropriate allocation of polling stations and ballot boxes, high levels of invalid votes, no recount of some close votes and even 101 percent voter turnout in one constituency.

She said the government has taken the EU report into account while carrying out the voter registration process and further discussions will take place with a UN Needs Assessment Team which will be in the country soon.


Story by: Vijay Narayan