The Fiji Elections Office is calling on all political parties to get their finances in order - two years out from the general election.
Mohammed Saneem. Photo: Fiji govt
The Registrar of Political Parties, Mohammed Saneem, said some parties had "wide-scale fundraising activities".
But Mr Saneem described some of these activities as being in a "grey area", explaining it had been difficult for his office to identify the source of these funds.
He said a similiar verification of all party funding was carried out prior to the 2018 election.
"It's an ideal time for the registrar to verify all the accounts and make sure the parties implement the necessary financial rules to ensure that when they do disclosures at election time, the disclosures comply with all the laws as well as provide accurate information."
Saneem said some of these fundraising activies could be disguised as company donations to the parties which was not allowed under the electoral laws.
The Elections Office is expected to conclude the verification of accounts for the opposition National Federation Party this week.
Funding to the NFP was last week scrutinised by the Elections Office after it said it found discrepancies in the party's accounts of 2018 audited by Parkers Chartered Accountants Fiji Limited.
Saneem said Parkers was not an approved auditor under the Fiji Institute of Accountants Act and was not entitled to issue audit opinions.
The NFP is now required to resubmit its reaudited accounts.
Saneem explained that verification of other parties would be carried out.
He said FijiFirst is next week, followed by the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA), Fiji Labour Party, Unity Fiji, HOPE and Freedom Alliance parties.
Under the Political Parties Act, a party that receives funds from a foreign government, inter-governmental or NGO of more than $US5,000 can be fined up to $US5,000 or a term of imprisonment of up to five years, or both.
