The Fiji Labour Party is not a bailiff for the Fijian Elections Office, says leader Mahendra Chaudhry. He was responding to a media complaint from the Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem.

Mr Saneem had said Mr Chaudhry “had refused to cooperate in serving the notice to his own party representative” — in reference to comments made by FLP member Haroon Ali Shah.

He said the FEO would now take steps to directly issue the notice to Mr Shah in Lautoka.

In response, Mr Chaudhry said, “Any notice of a legal nature should be served directly on the person concerned and not through a third party”.

“As a lawyer, Saneem should know that,” he said.

“In this case, it relates to a notice issued by the Supervisor of Elections to Haroon Ali Shah under Section 144A (2) of the Electoral Act to correct his “false statements made at a Fiji Labour Party campaign rally…” in Lautoka on May 18, 2022, with immediate effect.

“Failure to do so could result in Mr Shah being prosecuted for an offence for which, if convicted, he could be fined up to $50,000 or be imprisoned for a term not exceeding 5 years or both.

“The notice is personal to Mr Shah and was issued by the Supervisor of Elections.

“It is thus his responsibility to have the notice personally served on Mr Shah. “It is not for the Fiji Labour Party to do his job.”

At a news conference at the FijiFirst party headquarters on June 22, FijiFirst Party general secretary Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said he had written a letter of complaint to Mr Saneem regarding a false statement made by Mr Shah at an FLP rally at the Qalitu Primary School in Lautoka.