FEO investigate complaints against officials - The Fiji Times

Source: The Fiji Times
Author: Shayal Devi

The Fijian Elections Office (FEO) is investigating two complaints lodged against senior officials of two prominent political parties in the country.

This has been confirmed by acting Supervisor of Elections Ana Mataiciwa in response to queries from this newspaper.

"The FEO is currently conducting its verification and analysis of the complaints," she said.

"Our verification process consists of due diligence checks with various institutions, and it normally takes between two to three weeks.

The outcome would determine our next cause of action.

"The complaints are based on declarations that have been sworn by these subjects of inquiry to confirm that the information they have provided in their declaration are true and complete."

Ms Mataiciwa added that the purpose of the statutory declaration was to satisfy the legal requirements in the Political Parties (Registration, Conduct, Funding and Disclosures) Act 2013, in an event when no evidence was submitted with their declarations.

"As such, when receiving complaints, we verify their sworn declarations with various institutions on whether it is compliant with the Political Parties Act or not.

"I would like to reiterate that the FEO is approachable now and our doors are always open.

"If a member of the public believes that there is a probable breach of any of our Electoral Laws, please do come forward and lodge your complaint with us and we will do the necessary tasks from our end."