Supervisor of Elections and Registrar of Political Parties, Mohammed Saneem says International IDEA’s report recommendation for the Electoral Commission to deal with political finance compliance issues would only result in delays.
The International IDEA Political Finance Assessment of Fiji Report recommends that the authority of the Registrar of Political Parties and procedures for imposing sanctions on parties may need to be reviewed.
The lead author of the report is Nilesh Lal who is also the Executive Director of Dialogue Fiji.
According to the report published by the Sweden based international organization, the legislation confers certain powers on the Registrar of Political Parties to impose sanctions on offending political parties for their transgressions.
It says the decisions of the Registrar can be appealed to the Electoral Commission by the sanctioned party within 14 days.
The report says the decision of the Electoral Commission, however, is final and there is no further recourse.
The International IDEA report says the authority for hearing appeals was previously vested in the High Court; however, the amendments made in 2021 now transfer this power to the Electoral Commission.
The report says concerns were raised by some political parties regarding the power of the Registrar to impose severe sanctions such as deregistration. It says it is desirable that sanctions of this magnitude should be applied by a Commission rather than an individual.
The International IDEA report says concerns over the current decision-making process on sanctions could highlight the need to pass these oversight functions to the Electoral Commission with appeals to be heard in the High Court.
When asked by LegendFM News, Saneem says the compliance has to be effectively handled and if this report wants it to go from the Registrar who is the regulator to the Commission, all it is proposing is for there to be delay.
He says the word sanction has been misapplied in the report and it looks at the way political parties have painted it whereas in fact the current framework promotes compliance. Saneem says if a party is not compliant, they can be suspended so they can comply.
The report also says interviews conducted with political parties show a disconcertingly high level of mistrust in the oversight body.
The report further says this stems partly from the fact that the appointment of the Registrar was done without achieving broad consensus with the opposition parties.
While responding to this, Saneem says the term opposition parties is usually used by the Fiji Labour Party which is not an opposition party as only two parties make the current opposition in parliament.
He also says the report lacks credible information.
The International IDEA report also says the Registrar regulates a range of matters related to political parties, including their financial compliance and disclosures.
The report says administration of the financial disclosures of registered political parties, ensuring their compliance with legislative requirements and applying relevant remedies, places high demands on the Registrar. It says these responsibilities increase during the electoral period, when the Registrar must also carry out other functions in the dual role as Supervisor of Elections.
The assessment team concluded that the Office of the Registrar is adequately resourced, and dedicated teams are recruited during election year and other periods of intense activity, such as verification of registration of political parties.
However the International IDEA report further says the widespread lack of confidence in most political parties in the independence and impartiality of the Registrar is a major concern.
It says while there might be an element of political motivation in seeking to discredit the oversight body or the administration of elections more generally, some of the concerns raised by political parties about unequal treatment are legitimate.
The report recommends that in order to build trust and confidence in the oversight body, the Registrar should provide more guidance and support to political parties and candidates about various aspects of the political finance regulations.
The International IDEA says the Registrar could also develop and publish its policies and internal decision making processes to ensure that the oversight is carried out in line with written procedures and in a consistent manner. It says such reforms would reduce the scope for discretionary decision-making by the oversight body.
It further says that the Registrar should hold regular open dialogue with the leadership of all political parties, aimed at building greater co-operation and conducive working relationships.
The report says this is of value as political parties are, arguably, the most important stakeholders for the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties.
By: Vijay Narayan
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) says they are yet to receive the notice from the Fijian Elections Office that it has terminated their Memorandum of Understanding after the publishing of the Political Finance Assessment of Fiji Report.
The Senior Programme Manager, Adhy Aman says either party is able to unilaterally terminate the MOU with at least 3 months’ notice.
Aman says it should be noted, that considering FEO and International IDEA has a partnership sealed in an MOU, each partner should have the good faith to advise each other if the other partner is perceived to be venturing in the wrong direction.
He says the research team displayed due diligence and provided opportunities for correction at every step within the constraints of the pandemic and inability to travel.
While responding to the Registrar of Political Parties, Mohammed Saneem, Aman says the Registrar had opportunities to contribute to and review the report at several junctures: during the interview phase, the validation workshop, and the draft review process in the weeks prior to finalisation of the report.
Aman says they provided Saneem with a copy of the draft report on 11th August 2021 and sent a reminder exactly two weeks later on 25th August 2021.
He says they never received any feedback until 7th November – almost a month after publication.
Aman further says the report was first published on International IDEA’s website on 10th October 2021.
He also says International IDEA is committed to correct any errors accordingly, but it needs to be preceded by a thorough and careful check.
Aman says International IDEA is a global organisation, and their staff are working across different time zones.
He says some are currently on duty travel and as such, it takes some time to respond.
Aman says they received a list of questions from Saneem in the evening of 8th November.
He says we can assure you, the Registrar’s letter will be responded appropriately.
He further says Saneem’s letter contains 23 substantive and 6 institutional points of concerns that require thorough and careful perusal. All responses also need to go through respective clearance processes, as is normal with an inter-governmental organisation.
Aman also says their recommendations are based on the assessment conducted at the time.
He says what worked in the past or may not work in the present and what works in the present may or may not work in the future.
Aman says this is why assessments need to be conducted regularly.
He says as it stands today, 71.7 percent of countries do not ban corporate donations to political parties and their recommendation should be reviewed in its entirety. Aman says with regard to involving the Electoral Commission as the body with the power to sanction, it is also an international best practice that the harshest of punishment should be decided by a commission (or a group of individuals) rather than by an individual.
He says the report investigates Fiji’s political finance framework, not the perceptions of political parties, and the Registrar’s claim is totally out of place.
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