We, the undersigned civil society organisations, are
deeply concerned by the Prime Minister’s request that the
Electoral Commission suspend campaigning for Fiji’s
forthcoming general election.
The Electoral Commission
cannot lawfully suspend general election campaigning at this
stage.
Section 15(2) of the National Referendum Act
gives the Commission a power to suspend campaigning only
where “the day fixed for voting at a referendum”
is different from the day fixed for polling at an
election.
No referendum polling day has yet been
lawfully fixed. Under the Act, the referendum polling day is
fixed by the President through the referendum writ. That
writ can only be issued after the Speaker has notified the
President that the Constitution Amendment Bill has passed
Parliament in accordance with section 160 of the
Constitution. The writ then appoints the referendum polling
day.
The Constitution Amendment Bill has not yet
completed its third reading. The constitutional and
statutory conditions necessary to trigger the referendum
have therefore not been satisfied, no referendum writ could
yet have been lawfully issued through that process, and the
legal condition required for the Commission to exercise the
section 15(2) power has not arisen.
Any suspension of
general election campaigning at this stage would therefore
be unlawful.
We are also deeply troubled by what the
continuing uncertainty surrounding the general election is
doing to Fiji’s democracy. For some time now, political
parties, candidates and voters have been forced to operate
in an environment of uncertainty about when the election
will be held, what constitutional framework may apply, and
how the electoral process will unfold. This is no way to
conduct a national election.
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The cumulative effect is
to make a mockery of the predictability and stability that
should characterise a free and fair electoral process. This
uncertainty does not affect all contestants equally. The
uncertainty created by the Government’s handling of the
electoral timetable is unfairly disadvantaging challenger
parties. Political rivals are being forced to prepare and
campaign in circumstances where key elements of the
electoral process remain uncertain, while the incumbent
Government is itself driving many of the decisions creating
that uncertainty. This risks distorting the conditions of
political competition and undermining the level playing
field that is fundamental to a free and fair election.
Changing the conditions of the contest after campaigning has
already begun
Joint Civil Society Statement • Fiji
• September 2026
would therefore risk distorting the
playing field in favour of those already holding political
and institutional advantages. Democratic legitimacy requires
that all participants operate under fair, transparent and
predictable rules.
The Electoral Commission is not an
arm of Government. It is the independent body responsible
for administering the election fairly, impartially and
transparently. The Prime Minister and his party are
themselves contestants in that election. It would therefore
be truly scandalous if the Commission were to act on an
unlawful request from one of the principal contestants and
suspend general election campaigning when the legal
preconditions for doing so have not even arisen.
Such
a decision would cause serious damage to public confidence
in the Electoral Commission and would cast a shadow over
whether the forthcoming election could genuinely be regarded
as free, fair and credible.
We call on the Electoral
Commission to reject any attempt to unlawfully suspend
general election campaigning and to protect the integrity,
fairness and independence of Fiji’s electoral
process.
Signed:
Centre for
Democracy & Dialogue
Fiji Women’s Rights
Movement
Fiji Council of Social Services
Social
Empowerment and Education Programme
femLINK
Pacific
Transparency
Fiji
