Statement by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission
Political Party Electoral Processes Workshop
Suvavou House
Date: 21/04/22
Time: 8:00am
The Supervisor of Elections;
Representatives of Political Parties;
Ni sa Bula Vinaka and a very good morning to you all.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Electoral Commission[EC] is required by law to conduct regular meetings with political parties and since the beginning of this year we have been holding various meetings and sessions with political parties to upskill and build their capacity.
Today’s workshop is one of the most critical amongst all of our meetings and I understand from the presentations today, the Supervisor of Elections[SoE] will be providing political parties with first hand direct information on the actual processes involved in the various steps along the way.
Ladies and Gentlemen, at this juncture, political parties must realize that operational plans of the Fijian Elections Office[FEO] are tentative in nature and of course be affected by various factors once the election date is announced.
They are to be treated for information purposes, for planning and preoperational purposes and you must always ensure that you treat it with a caution that things are subject to change.
Ladies and Gentlemen, COVID-19 has taught us a very important lesson in life and that it is that we must not take things for granted and that is why you will notice that some of these plans still incorporate COVID safe measures for the very reason that we need to be prepared incase anything surprises us.
We have noticed that political parties participate in all these forums and yet their leaders continue to make incorrect statements about the elections.
We hope that the representation of political parties in these sessions is at very senior levels so that the information that is provided by the Fijian Elections Office reaches the people that actually do a lot of your political party talking.
The choice of venue for any training for political parties is determined based on the cost, availability, the size and as well the suitability.
Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you very much for your attendance today. With that, I wish you all a productive and successful workshop and I officially declare the Political Party Electoral Processes Workshop open.
Vinaka