Mads Anneberg in Suva
SUVA (Republika / Pacific Scoop / Pacific Media Watch): National and international media today challenged the Media Industry Development Authority chairman, Ashwin Raj, about road safety billboards that feature Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and the national flag – a portion of which is also his party’s logo.
The billboard in the capital Suva displays Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama telling Fijians to “buckle up”.
Today marks the first day of the 48-hour blackout period leading up to the general election on Wednesday - the country's first since a military coup in 2006.
Under the Electoral Decree no advertisements or media coverage of political parties and candidates are allowed in public.
Raj was asked whether the billboard was in violation of the decree since it showed Bainimarama with Fiji’s flag behind him. The coat of arms on the national flag is also the logo of Bainimarama’s party.
But Raj said it did not violate the decree.
“If it had said ‘Buckle up – vote for me’ it would have been another case. But not this,” he said.
Government functions
Raj said the media should be able to distinguish between government functions and political advertisement and was confident that the voters were also able to do so.
“I certainly have enough confidence in the voters that they are able to distinguish,” he said.
At the media conference, Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem also provided statistics for pre-polling, which closed today.
In total 49,505 Fijians have already voted, making the turnout for pre-polling 77 percent.
Today’s media conference also saw the attendance of several international journalists, including from New Zealand.
A total of 450 media personnel have been accredited to cover the elections, including 37 from overseas – among them two student journalists from AUT University, who have been covering the elections for a week so far.
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Mads Anneberg
