The Electoral Commission has dismissed a complaint by the Fiji Labour Party about alleged harassment by the Fiji Police Force of attendees at a party campaign meeting in Nadi recently.
The commission said it completed its enquiries in relation to a complaint received from the FLP and based on the findings of the enquiries, “the Electoral Commission is of the view that the Fiji Police Force is well within its power to conduct investigation and Section 111(1) of the Electoral Act has not been breached”.
FLP leader Mahendra Chaudhry had written to the Commission and issued a statement where he called on police to stop harassing supporters who attended a party meeting in Korovuto, Nadi, last Thursday.
Mr Chaudhry claimed “four officers from CID headquarters in Suva have been questioning Labour supporters and prospective candidates since Monday about the meeting and its organisers”.
He claimed they wanted to know who paid for the yaqona served at the meeting, who built the shed and who fixed the lights.
Mr Chaudhry claimed one of the officers said they were acting on the instructions of Police Commissioner Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho.
The Fiji Times sought comments from police, who declined to make any comment on the claim.
Mr Chaudhry claimed the policemen’s actions were in breach of S111(1) of the Electoral Act “which makes it an offence for any private citizen or public official from hindering in any manner whatsoever the lawful campaign activity of any political party or candidate, including the holding of campaign rallies and meetings”.
Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem has referred the Fiji Labour Party to the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) for probable breach of Section 116(3)(c) and 4(d) of the Electoral Act 2014.
“We found out that at a campaign event of the FLP, a representative of the party made several statements that may be in direct breach of the law,” said Mr Saneem in a statement yesterday.
“A video recording of the political rally of the FLP held at Korovuto in Nadi on July 28, 2022 has surfaced on Facebook by one of FLP’s representatives, Ms Taina Rokotabua, containing statements made by supporters at the rally which may also amount to racial vilification.
“Given that the video is publicly posted on Ms Rokotabua’s Facebook Page, it continues to present opportunities to mislead people and may incite violence.”
