SoE seeks removal of excessive powers as review of electoral laws begin

As the review process of the three electoral laws begin today, Supervisor of Elections Ana Mataiciwa says they have made submissions to remove powers of the Supervisor that are not needed.

Mataiciwa highlighted this while responding to questions on fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan on the excessive powers of the Supervisor of Elections, including the search and seizure of documents it deems necessary.

She says they have also considered the excessive powers of the Supervisor of Elections because it was not only brought up by the stakeholders but also in the Multinational Observer Group report of the 2022 General Election.

There are also concerns regarding the amendments made under Parliamentary Standing Order 51 in 2021 where people have to pay to only see, not take photos or print the declarations of assets and liabilities of the candidates.

Mataiciwa assures the people that she has also made submissions for it to revert to the previous law which is for anyone to view the declarations when it is published in the dailies.

You can watch the full Straight Talk interview on our website fijivillage or catch it on Spotify and Apple podcast, fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan.