“WE have nothing to hide.”
This is the word from Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem in regards to discussions by six opposition political parties at a press conference yesterday on the procurement of election software from NADRA Technologies Ltd, a foreign company.
The parties claimed that the Electoral Commission refused to explain the involvement of NADRA Technologies Ltd with Fiji’s election after they were investigated for alleged irregularities following the recent Pakistan election.
Mr Saneem said the election management system was a logistics tracking system which the parties failed to understand.
He said the software had been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers, its procurement was also audited by the Auditor-General.
“We have nothing to hide. The FEO is the most transparent organisation management you will find,” he said.
“Ladies and gentlemen stop spreading false rumours. “This software is not used in terms of voting, in terms of counting.
“Notice the fact that whenever they mention the election management system, they use the word ‘Pakistani’, it is obvious and it is shameful.”
Mr Saneem added the system procured from NADRA Technologies Ltd allowed the Fijian Elections Office to assess and calculate how many ballot papers were needed to be produced, how many ballot boxes were required based on the number of voters in this country, how many polling stations would need to be operated, among other things.
He said this election management system software had been developed on the demand of FEO and fully customised to their office.
He said the new system also allowed for a much quicker process in terms of the application and registration of new political parties.
“If the FEO chose a software company that can deliver on time at a least cost compared with every other supplier, have the software delivered to us at our office within the timeframe, what is the problem with these parties?”
Mr Saneem also said The Fiji Times had vehemently misrepresented a press statement that the FEO issued last year about the issue. He said by doing so, the newspaper showed a very poor level of journalism.
