THE appointment of Anne Dunn as the commissioner of the Online Safety Commission has come under scrutiny.
National Federation Party leader Professor Biman Prasad claimed the appointment by the Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was an abuse of office, adding it was a blatant display of nepotism and cronyism.
He claimed Ms Dunn lacked the experience to execute such roles and that her direct involvement with the FijiFirst party was unethical.
“Ms Dunn was admitted to the Bar on August 31, 2017.
“Therefore, she has minimal legal expertise to be the sole commissioner of such a sensitive piece of legislation.
“Her direct involvement with the FijiFirst party and the fact she will be based in the same premises as the attorney-general gives rise to a genuine perception of her not discharging her responsibilities with impartiality.
“We all know why and how the Online Safety Act was legislated.
“By rushing it through the parliamentary process and passing it within one month of the tabling of the Bill.
“On the other hand, several important recommendations to give our election process genuine integrity and credibility were sitting with the Justice, Law and Human Rights Committee for more than two years and did not reach the floor of Parliament,” he claimed.
The appointment, Prof Prasad claimed, was an indictment of the lip service that this administration pays to accountability, transparency and good governance.
“We also question whether the open merit recruitment system used to select and evaluate civil servants was used in the appointment of the commissioner,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Attorney-General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, is currently out of the country.
