Members of the Electoral Commission, Mr. Simione Naiduki, Mr. Jay Lal, Mrs. Kavita Raniga, Mrs Margot Jenkins and Ms. Selina Lee Wah wish to advise members of the public, particularly Fiji Times and Mahendra Chaudhary of FLP that the Electoral Commission continues to operate and discharge its roles and functions under the Fijian Constitution and Electoral laws.
We therefore correct claims by Mahendra Chaudhry when he said in today’s Fiji Times that due to the absence of a Chair, the EC is not operating at the moment.
Under section 5 of the Electoral Act, a quorum is formed by at least 4 members of the Commission and as such the roles and functions of EC continue to be discharged.
The EC expected Fiji Times to properly verify this information before publishing it. While the EC members work on part time basis, the FEO operates a full time secretariat headed by the SoE which could have facilitated clarifications if only Fiji Times would have checked.
The EC urges news organizations and political parties to exercise diligence when making such reports and statements.
Authorised by
Commissioners: Simione Naiduki, Jay Lal, Kavita Raniga, Margot Jenkins and Selina Lee Wah