National Federation Party (NFP) leader and Government MP Professor Biman Prasad told Parliament yesterday that Fiji must urgently reform its electoral laws to prevent abuses that, he says, undermined trust and fairness in past elections.
Reflecting on his years in opposition and his experience across the last three general elections, Prof Prasad said many of the issues raised in the latest electoral report echoed concerns the opposition repeatedly highlighted.
“When we talk about free and fair elections… we in the opposition used to point out laws that could be weaponised — requirements that could be weaponised in the wrong hands at the wrong time,” he said.
“I described some of the electoral law provisions, which continuously got changed, as stupid laws. And I think this report makes a lot of sense. If we don’t change those, they will remain stupid laws. They will remain weaponised. And they would not make any election free and fair.”
Prasad stressed that an election must meet a wider standard than simply being labelled free and fair.
“It’s not just about free and fair. It’s about electoral integrity,” he said.
He criticised restrictions imposed on international observer groups during previous administrations.
“The laws required that multinational observer groups had to adhere to terms of reference agreed to by the government. So Commonwealth observer groups, European Union observer groups could not come here. Instead, a more regional observer group was cobbled up because they agreed to the terms of reference by the government at the time.”
Prof Prasad said such constraints weakened independent scrutiny and raised questions about credibility.
He urged Parliament to fully consider the report and adopt reforms that strengthen transparency, neutrality and independence across all stages of the election process.
“Free and fair elections are one thing, but electoral integrity is broader. We need to look at both,” he said.
