PARTICIPANTS at this week’s multi-stakeholder dialogue on electoral reform in Suva have called for a review of political donation and advertising rules, saying the current laws unfairly benefit some parties over the others.
Speaking during group presentations, they criticised the restriction that only individuals, not businesses, could donate to political parties in Fiji.
“Look at Elon Musk, he donated millions to Donald Trump, that’s how he won,” one participant said.
“And, of course, if businesses don’t donate, how can we expect political parties to win?
“In Fiji, these businesses donated as private individuals to FijiFirst, so they found a way to circumvent their own law, which is unfair on the other parties who could not get donations in the same way.
“And the same restrictions apply for advertising, for example, there were expensive billboards by FijiFirst during the last elections, others were restricted to cardboards.
“They cost a lot of money, so business organisations willing to fund parties should be allowed to do so.”
