Update: 1:58PM BIJAI Prasad, the proposed vice president of the proposed Fiji First Party has stepped down from the position citing a criminal charge and conviction as the reason.
“I have last night submitted the withdrawal of my name as the vice president of the proposed Fiji First Party to the proposed leader and to the proposed general secretary,” he said in a press conference in Nadi this morning.
“I have done so because when I accepted the position, I did not disclose the fact that over 30 years ago, I was convicted on a criminal charge and served a prison term.”
Mr Prasad said he did not disclose the information earlier because under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Irrelevant Act 1997, records after 10 years are expunged.
“The proposed Fiji First Party and proposed leader Rear Admiral Voreqe Bainimarama, who I have very high regard for, has insisted in the highest standards of personal conduct and my non-disclosure has fallen short of those standards.”
Mr Prasad was convicted of larceny by servant and sentenced to three years imprisonment in 1982 in relation to the theft of $20,000 during his tenure as a movement controller with Air Terminal Services.
