SUVA (Pacific Media Watch / Radio New Zealand International): The Fijian Prime Minister's alleged breaches of his own draconian electoral decrees may not be investigated before the national elections take place in September.
According to Radio New Zealand International, Fijian police refused to say whether they would complete their investigation into Rear-Admiral Voreqe Bainimarama's alleged breaches of his own military decrees.
The breaches include using the national coat of arms on his campaign bus and "campaigning without having his party registered". The breaches carry maximum sentences of 10 years in prison and would prevent Bainimarama from standing in the election.
"Two former prime ministers, who were expected to be his main rivals, are barred from contesting the September election because of convictions for financial crimes" RNZI reported.
Pacific Media Watch and Radio New Zealand International reported last month that Mick Beddoes of the opposition party United Front for a Democratic Fiji had laid complaints with the police about Bainimarama breaching his own decrees "on a daily basis".
The elections are already controversial with UFDF and New Zealand's Council of Trade Unions having stated that it was unlikely the elections would be free and fair.
The Fiji Law Society also hit out at a military decree which allows the government to put its citizens under surveillance in the 48 hours before the elections. Anyone found communicating any "political message" by any means in the 48 hours before the elections, faces a fine of US$27,000, or 10 years in jail.
The Fiji Citizens Constitutional Forum was forced to withdraw an information booklet after Fiji's Attorney-General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, said all voter education had to be approved by Fiji's Electoral Commission.
"If you let them [NGOs] loose and they have a particular agenda, they can actually go out in the rural areas and tell people the wrong thing," Sayed-Khaiyum said last month.
Last week, Sayed-Khaiyum, who is also the elections minister and minister of justice, anti-corruption, public enterprises, investment, industry and tourism and communications, was criticised for agreeing to become the general secretary of the military government's Fiji First party.
Constitutional expert Dr Andrew Ladley told RNZI that by taking up a party position at the same time as being a minister, Sayed-Khaiyum could be seen as biased.
"...if one side, and in this case a kingpin, a key advisor on the regime side - a non-democratic regime - is controlling too many aspects that it both has the look and the possible feel of being biased. That's because of the fear that the system may be stacked in the interests of one party. And it's because of nervousness about things like whether resources, state resources, will be used in some way to favour incumbents or at least the party that's about to be formed."
Meanwhile, Islands Business reported that the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) had begun selecting its electoral candidates. The Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) said it would release its list of candidates next month.
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