The meeting was co-chaired by the Supervisor of Elections [SoE], Mr Mohammed Saneem, and Mr Mukesh Nand, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission and was well attended by representatives of six (6) registered political parties in Fiji.

“Prior to the date of the meeting, political parties were invited to submit agenda items for discussion at this meeting and the FEO took this opportunity to provide an update on election preparation activities” explained Mr. Saneem.

At this meeting, the Supervisor of Elections also presented the FEO’s ‘Know Your Election’ awareness presentation to demonstrate the contents of the awareness material that the FEO conducts while out in the field.

“Political parties were also allowed the opportunity to observe the demonstration of a Polling Venue set-up which enabled them to have a firsthand experience of a Polling Station set-up for the 2022 General Election,” Mr Saneem said.

The Deputy Supervisor of Elections carried out the demonstration and provided explanations on each process inside the Polling Venue for the attendee’s present.

The FEO wishes to highlight that attempts were made on late Thursday afternoon by Fiji Labour Party Leader Mr Mahendra Chaudhary and Unity Fiji Leader Mr Savenaca Narube to derail the meeting by lobbying for a boycott of this meeting, however, 6 of the 7 political parties attended this meeting with at least 2 representatives. Fiji Labour Party did not attend the meeting.

The FEO strongly condemns such attempts at disrupting key activities in the buildup to the elections. Meetings between the FEO and political parties provides the platform for free flow of information and it is inappropriate for a political party to promote non-attendance.

“In any event, the meeting was well attended,” concluded Mr Saneem.

The meeting was also broadcasted live on the FEO Facebook page.