We have been transparent with our donations – Sayed-Khaiyum

FijiFirst General Secretary Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says they have raised the issue with the Registrar of Political Parties about how they are going to deal with some of the inconsistencies that have risen from the declaration of donations made by various political parties.

Sayed-Khaiyum says they have been transparent with their donations and they have provided full disclosures.

He says they obtained the donation lists of other parties and highlighted that the list that was published subsequently by the Fijian Elections Office for the same year had different donors and amounts.

Supervisor of Elections and Registrar of Political Parties, Mohammed Saneem says they have already carried out the necessary verification of the FijiFirst accounts.

Saneem made these comments after Fiji Labour Party Leader Mahendra Chaudhry asked the Electoral Commission to conduct a thorough analysis of the donors list of the FijiFirst and the method it employed in getting $7.5 million in donations between 2014 and 2019.

Saneem says Chaudhry should furnish facts to back his claims.

He adds the Elections Office works based on facts and within the law.

Saneem also says there is no legal age limit for party donations.

Meanwhile, Chaudhry has said in a letter to the Commission that thorough analysis of the donors list of the FijiFirst is needed as he alleges that some large corporate entities, close to the party’s hierarchy, have donated corporate funds disguised as personal donations.

Chaudhry also questions what other conclusion can be drawn from the fact that the donors from some corporate entities included everybody from grandfathers to grandchildren, each generously donating the maximum of $10,000 each.

He says the statement of the Commission that the Registrar of Political Parties has gone through the accounts of the FijiFirst, does not adequately deal with the issue at hand.

Chaudhry also questioned if the Registrar in his examination of the FijiFirst accounts verified whether the donations were made in cash, personal cheques or corporate cheques.

He says their request for an inquiry is founded on substantiated grounds that the major donors have allegedly benefitted personally or through their companies being given contracts.

Chaudhry says many of them were appointed to lucrative positions like diplomatic missions, Boards of statutory bodies and government commercial companies and these facts are plain as daylight for those who want to see it.

The FLP Leader says the entire situation is preposterous and the appeal provisions and the timelines for lodging complaints against the decision of the Registrar as mentioned are not relevant to the issue under consideration.

Chaudhry has reiterated their call for an independent inquiry into the matter.