28 May 2014

Fiji decree unworkable says Law Society

7:26 pm on 28 May 2014

The president of the Fiji Law Society Dorsami Naidu says aspects of the Electoral Decree are unworkable and were not well thought through.

For instance Section 63 of the Decree says people caught having a phone conversation about the election two days before the polls open risk jail.

But Dorsami Naidu says it will be ineffectual.

"I mean they're saying you can't campaign 48 hours before the elections and yet political parties can have a shed 300 metres away from the polling stations, so you know people are going to go through your polling shed, are you going to talk to them about the weather or are you going to tell them which number to vote on for which candidate?"

Dorsami Naidu says Decrees appear to have been tailor-made for the current regime, while restricting other parties who are preparing for the September election.