The Social Democratic Liberal Party had raised concerns about the Supervisor of Elections having too much power during debate on the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2020 in Parliament’s most recent sitting.

SODELPA MP Niko Nawaikula said the Bill continued to increase the powers of the Supervisor of Elections.

“There is too much power vested in one person and is a symptom for bad governance,” he said.

“In fact, the Supervisor of Elections now holds, at least, three positions simultaneously namely – as Supervisor of Elections, he is also the Registrar of Political Parties, he is also the secretary to the Electoral Commission and he registers voters and issues the National Voter Roll.

“There should be some checks and balances to ensure transparency and accountability.

“The electoral network has vested too much powers into one person and that is Mr Saneem.”

Mr Nawaikula said the Bill was “tantamount to making cosmetic changes in an unfair system that is rigged against Opposition Parties and gives FijiFirst the whole advantage.”

He said the change meant that the court jurisdiction was ousted as the Supervisor of Elections could not be challenged in court.

In response, Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the Opposition was “going on” about the Supervisor of Elections having so many different roles.

He said it was “because before the Supervisor of Elections also registered political parties, there was no specific laws surrounding that but now, everything is clearly set out”.