The Registrar of Political Parties, Ana Mataiciwa, has rejected an application to register the proposed political party “FijiansFirst”, citing concerns over its similarity to the deregistered FijiFirst.
Mataiciwa confirmed that objections were lodged by the National Federation Party (NFP) and the People’s Alliance (TPA), raising multiple concerns about the proposed party’s name, symbol, and acronym.
“Based on NFP and TPA’s objections on similarity between the proposed name FijiansFirst and FijiFirst, I find that the proposed name so nearly resembles that of the deregistered party ‘FijiFirst’ as to be likely to be confused with or mistaken for that party within the meaning of section 8(h)(iii) of the Political Parties Act,” Mataiciwa said.
“Therefore, the application for registration of Proposed FijiansFirst is hereby refused.”
She said the decision was grounded in provisions of the Political Parties (Registration, Conduct, Funding and Disclosures) Act 2013, which requires the Registrar to reject applications where a proposed party’s name, acronym, or symbol closely resembles that of a deregistered party.
The objections from NFP and TPA also included concerns about the unauthorised use of the national coat of arms, similarities in party symbols, and the likelihood of the proposed acronym “FFP” being associated with FijiFirst.
However, Mataiciwa clarified that these additional grounds did not meet the legal threshold under the Act.
“All other grounds of objection raised by the NFP and TPA, including those relating to the symbol, the use of national imagery and the likely use of the abbreviation ‘FFP’, have been considered and do not meet the statutory threshold… and are accordingly rejected,” she said.
Mataiciwa added that the proposed FijiansFirst party has the right to appeal the decision to the Electoral Commission within 14 days, in accordance with the law.
