The commissioners behind Fiji’s 2025 Electoral Law Reform Commission (FELRC) have defended their proposed electoral reforms, insisting the recommendations are based on what ordinary Fijians told them during months of nationwide consultations rather than abstract theories of proportional representation.
Responding to criticism from Dialogue Fiji Executive Director Nilesh Lal, former Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki and Professor Wadan Narsey said the commission’s report, An Electoral System for the People From the People, was developed after extensive consultations throughout Fiji and in accordance with its terms of reference.
The commissioners expressed surprise at claims that Fiji’s current electoral system provides a more accurate reflection of voters’ choices than the commission’s proposed Proportional Open List Constituency System (POLCS).
“It is therefore utterly astonishing that the executive director of Dialogue Fiji baldly and abstractly claims ‘Fiji’s current electoral system delivers a more accurate reflection of voters’ choices than the proposed Proportional Open List Constituency System (POLCS) being considered during constitutional reform’,” the commissioners said.
They argued that the focus should be on the concerns repeatedly raised by members of the public rather than mathematical proportionality.
“Instead, the executive director of Dialogue Fiji is fixated upon some hypothetical arithmetical proportionality which the people of Fiji would have little understanding of, or care for, or even, the slightest interest in,” they said.
According to the commissioners, public consultations revealed widespread dissatisfaction with the existing electoral system.
They said voters complained about the “confusing Sudoku style ballot paper” containing hundreds of random numbers, the lack of identifiable local Members of Parliament, the five per cent threshold that excludes candidates with significant support, and excessive powers held by some electoral officials.
Instead, they said Fijians consistently called for local constituencies, accountable MPs, simpler ballot papers displaying candidate names, party symbols and photographs, straightforward voting procedures and transparent counting of ballots.
The commissioners said the proposed POLCS delivers exactly those priorities.
“It needs to be emphasised to Dialogue Fiji that the 2025 POLCS responds first and foremost to what the people and voters of Fiji wanted from their electoral system namely, their own locally accountable MPs,” they said.
Under the proposal, Fiji would have 25 open constituencies and 25 reserved seats for women, creating 50 locally accountable MPs, while 21 list seats would promote proportionality and allow greater representation for smaller parties and independents.
The commissioners also dismissed concerns over the possibility of overhang seats, describing them as unlikely and manageable.
“In any case the Fiji Electoral Commission would first allocate the 21 List MPs to all the other deserving parties who qualify for a share of the national Parliament,” they said, adding that the commission could approve “a small number of ‘overhang’ or ‘compensatory’ seats” if required.
Looking ahead, the commissioners said they expected the Constitution Review Commission’s report to reflect similar recommendations following its own nationwide consultations.
“Given that it has also consulted widely throughout Fiji, we doubt if electoral recommendations be much different from that of the 2025 FELRC, certainly not when it comes to the public’s call for local representation and accountability of MPs.”
