SUVA (Pacific Scoop / Pacific Media Watch): Election authorities in Fiji say they say they will consider allegations of irregularities in Wednesday’s ballot but are not satisfied with documents provided so far, reports Radio New Zealand International.
The Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem, has confirmed receiving papers, including photos and a copy of a ballot paper from a group of five political parties, which have made allegations of “systematic fraud”.
After a count of 334,313 votes in the final tally, coup leader Voreqe Bainimarama had a dominating lead of 193,281 votes – or almost 58 percent of the total votes counted.
The group, which does not include Fiji First, says the photos show unsecured ballot papers in a car boot and they are documenting 50 more cases including evidence of one village polling station that was never set up.
The Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem says the car in the photo was leased to the Fijian Elections Office:
“What is not clear is what is the relation of the evidence to any of the polling stations. Of course we take this seriously. The Fijian Elections Office has always said that we are committed to transparency and honesty and integrity. The alleged evidence that we have received requires more verification.”
RNZI quoted Saneem as saying the parties could also take their complaints to Fiji’s corruption authorities.
The Fiji Times reported that police had appealed to the public to “not panic” if they saw soldiers patrolling the streets.
Police chief operations officer ACP Rusiate Tudravu said there was nothing to worry about.
“This is just a routine exercise – they have advised us of their normal routine training,” he said.
Five Fijian parties show evidence of election ‘irregularities’
Pacific Media Watch
