[Photo: Dialogue Fiji/ Facebook]

Dialogue Fiji is reminding political parties to keep the national interest within sight and always uphold the essence of democracy.

This is as the country waits for the Social Democratic Liberal Party to decide on who they will join to form the next government.

Dialogue Fiji says it is important to keep the interests of all Fijians at heart during all discussions and is especially important for a nation emerging from the biggest economic crisis in its history.

It goes on to add that if the national interest is not considered, it will lead to a lot of pain and suffering for Fijians if the economy is negatively impacted.

Dialogue Fiji Executive Director Nilesh Lal says they have observed that there have been efforts to discredit the 2022 elections and electoral outcomes, which we raise concerns about given their implications for legitimacy of democratic outcomes.

He adds that in recent days, social media has been awash with allegations and
conspiracy theories about vote rigging and other election fraud.

Lal says despite this Fiji’s voting and ballot handling procedures have sufficient safeguards against tempering and there are opportunities for party polling agents to scrutinize the process, every step of the way.

He adds polling day workers are recruited from our own communities and it is preposterous to believe that one’s own relatives and friends are suddenly part of some grand conspiracy to commit election fraud and advantage the incumbent party.