The Interim Attorney General said people should stop getting obsessed about having the next election in March 2009 at any cost.
Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum who is also a member of the National Council for Building a Better Fiji (NCBBF) said it is not the role of the NCBBF to set an election timetable after it announced recommendations to make major changes to the Electoral Act and the constitution yesterday.
Sayed-Khaiyum said the setting of the date of the next elections is the job of the Electoral Commission and the NCBBF is just ensuring that Fiji has a truly democratic electoral system before the next polls.
“I think you seem to have an obsession about March. The point is that the election timetable is determined by the Electoral Commission. They are independent of the NCBBF. The role of the NCBBF is to independently assess the various issues that has been mandated to it. And that’s what it ‘s going to do. So in respect of the elections process that’s a separate issue. What we’re suggesting is through the electoral reforms is how the elections should be conducted. Under what rules. And whether those rules indeed are reflective of our society. And whether indeed those rules reflect an equal opportunity for all votes to have the same value. “ Interim Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
Several recommendations have been made, including the complete abolishment of the communal representation system as provided for under the constitution and the Electoral Act 1998, and to replace this with the use of a common roll for all future elections.
It had also been recommended that the electoral voting system as provided for under the Constitution and Electoral Act be reformed, to enable the adoption of a proportional representation system and that the Open List System be strongly recommended as the preferred electoral system in the public consultations on electoral reform.
The National Council had also resolved that the voting age be reduced from 21 to 18 years, the abolition of compulsory voting and that the specific anti-discrimination measures, be incorporated into Fiji's electoral laws to ensure no person is discriminated against by political parties on the grounds of race, religion, gender or circumstance.
The NCBBF had also recommended the removal of the mandatory power sharing arrangement, as provided under Subsections 99 (5) to (9) of the Constitution and due consideration to be given to provide for the formation of a truly representative cabinet.
Section 99 (5) to (9) of the constitution deals with the establishing of the cabinet and criteria set out for the political parties who can qualify for cabinet seats.
