Acting Attorney General, Siromi Turaga says the Referendum Bill does not prohibit public discussion on referendums; its provisions are designed solely to ensure a fair, transparent, and orderly referendum process, as permitted under the Constitution, and offence provisions within the Bill are not new or unusual and align with existing electoral laws and international practice.
However Dialogue Fiji Executive Director, Nilesh Lal says if this Bill is passed in its current form, Fiji will be the only country in the democratic world where citizens can go to prison for publicly advocating how people should vote in a referendum.
While responding to Dialogue Fiji's statements, Turaga says Dialogue Fiji is only one of the many CSOs in Fiji and it is mischief on the part of the organisation or its Director, Nilesh Lal to compel or influence the government what to do.
Turaga says the parliamentary process is already invoked in terms of the consideration of the Referendum Bill 2025.
He says if there is anything meaningful that Dialogue Fiji needs to do, is to submit to the very rule of law that he over jealously wants to guard against.
The Acting Attorney General urges Lal to start preparing his submissions on the subject matter and ensure he appears before the Parliamentary Law Justice Committee.
Turaga says the Government will and should not be pushed by small organisations that are administered by very few people, and with less reach.
He adds the government, inclusive of the opposition, as people's representatives in parliament are committed to the principles of parliamentary democracy.
The Acting Attorney General stresses that any clauses that may appear restrictive will be reviewed through the Parliamentary Standing Committee process, where civil society, media, and the public are invited to provide submissions.
The government has rejected claims that the Bill is “undemocratic,” emphasising that it supports responsible public dialogue while protecting the referendum process from misinformation and disinformation.
Dialogue Fiji notes the Government’s assurance that the intent of the proposed law is not to criminalise public expression on referendum issues however, it says if this is indeed the intent, then the current text of the Bill does the exact opposite.
Executive Director Nilesh Lal says the Government’s assertion that the Bill does not prohibit public discussion is directly contradicted by the Bill itself.
Lal says Section 23 of the Bill makes it a criminal offence for any person, by word, message, writing or in any other manner, to endeavour to persuade or dissuade another person from voting in any particular way.
He says that is not a minor restriction and that is the direct criminalisation of referendum advocacy itself.
Dialogue Fiji also rejects the claim that the Bill aligns with international practice.
Lal says no referendum law in Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Switzerland or any liberal democracy criminalises persuasion or bans referendum-related expression at all times before, during and after a vote.
He adds short blackouts immediately preceding voting are common practice, but a permanent and blanket ban on campaigning is unprecedented in its severity.
Lal says the Bill also gives the Supervisor of Elections a monopoly over referendum-related materials, while banning all banners, badges, advertisements and symbols by citizens.
He says this hands total control of the public information environment to the State, and that is not how free and fair referendums operate anywhere in the democratic world.
Dialogue Fiji further rejects the suggestion that public criticism should be confined to internal or procedural channels.
Lal says while the Parliamentary Standing Committee process is acknowledged, Dialogue Fiji stresses that the defects in this Bill are not technical but fundamental.
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