Confidence that Fiji elections will go ahead

Transcript

Fiji's representative to the United Nations says he is confident Fiji's upcoming general elections will be free and fair.

Several political parties in Fiji have already expressed reservations about the integrity of the elections, which have been set down for September.

And the regime's leader, Rear Admiral Frank Bainimarama, is currently under police investigation for allegedly breaching the Political Parties Decree.

But Peter Thomson told Amelia Langford that Fiji is making good progress towards the elections.

PETER THOMSON: The feeling from everybody I have talked to in New York is one of great satisfaction as to the way things are going. You know, we are very pleased to see the Electoral Commission is up and running, a supervisor of elections has been appointed, a deputy supervisor of elections, who I understand is a chap from the Australian Electoral Commission has been appointed, the political parties are very much active and on the front pages of the newspapers each day installing their campaigns so yeah everything is pointing towards a smooth transition to parliamentary democracy post September 17th, I think is the date, September 17th.

AMELIA LANGFORD: Now, of course, Fiji has said before, that it will hold elections and it didn't happen. What gives you confidence that it will go ahead this time round?

PT: I think you are talking about a very different set of circumstances. The Fiji road map that was set in place was at Fiji's behest rather than the behest of its neighbours. So this is something that Fiji worked out - the Fiji road map to democracy, which was designed to give sufficient time to undertake the reforms that have now been undertaken in Fiji particularly the change of constitution to get rid of racial voting, which as you probably know, has been a part of our system in Fiji ever since Fiji stopped being a British colony. So the abolition of all that sort of thing have all been performed now and the roadmap has been followed all the way through so I see absolutely no reason why anybody should doubt that the elections will happen on September the 17th.

AL: Is the UN aware of some of the criticisms made by some of the parties in Fiji about these elections, including that they doubt these elections will be free and fair?

PT: There will always be in this world, whatever issue you are looking at, naysayers and people that look at the glass as half empty rather than half full. I can assure you that these will be free and fair elections from all that I have seen and look you are going to have people complaining up until the last day of the elections that that was the case when it is all proven otherwise. Just let history be the judge and September is not far away now.