The Electoral Commission has dismissed an appeal by Unity Fiji Party against the registration of the proposed People First Party, ruling that the Registrar of Political Parties acted lawfully in approving the new party’s registration.
In its ruling, the Commission found that while Unity Fiji had used “People First” as a slogan or by-line since its inception, the Political Parties Act does not provide legal protection for mottos and does not require them to be registered.
Unity Fiji had argued that allowing the registration of People First would create voter confusion and that the phrase formed an important part of the party’s identity.
However, the Commission said the law only protects registered party names, abbreviations, acronyms and symbols.
“Applying the literal rule, a symbol is a visual or graphic device; a motto is a textual phrase. The two are legally distinct categories,” the ruling stated.
The Commission acknowledged that the legislation contains a gap because while party constitutions must include logos, symbols and colours, there is no requirement to register slogans or mottos.
It also noted that Fiji’s number-only ballot system and party-centred voting habits could, in principle, create confusion where parties use similar branding.
However, the Commission found that Unity Fiji had failed to provide evidence demonstrating that “People First” had become so closely associated with the party that voters would be confused.
“Although Unity Fiji has utilised this motto since its inception, there has been no statistical data or surveys on how ingrained this has become with their identity that might possibly lead to confusion,” the ruling said.
The Commission further noted that Unity Fiji’s limited electoral performance, lack of parliamentary representation, the generic nature of the phrase “People First”, and the absence of survey evidence meant the threshold for proving likely voter confusion had not been met.
While rejecting the appeal, the Commission suggested Parliament may wish to amend the law to address the issue.
It recommended legislative reforms that would define the term “symbol”, create a registrable category for party mottos or by-lines, and extend existing voter-confusion protections to cover registered slogans.
“The legislature may wish to revisit this issue to address the legislative gap identified in this appeal,” the Commission said.
The ruling means the registration of People First as a political party will stand, with each side ordered to bear its own costs.
