FBC News 
[Photo: FILE]
Six non-governmental organisations issued a joint statement this afternoon, raising concerns about Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s request that the Electoral Commission suspend campaigning for Fiji’s forthcoming general election.
The six – the Centre for Democracy & Dialogue, Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, Fiji Council of Social Services, Social Empowerment and Education Programme, femLINK Pacific and Transparency Fiji- claim the Electoral Commission cannot lawfully suspend general election campaigning at this stage.
They further claim that Section 15(2) of the National Referendum Act gives the Commission power to suspend campaigning only where “the day fixed for voting at a referendum” is different from the day fixed for polling at an election.
The six claim no referendum polling day has yet been lawfully fixed.
They also claim that under the Act, the referendum polling day is fixed by the President through the referendum writ, and that writ can only be issued after the Speaker has notified the President that the Constitution Amendment Bill has passed Parliament in accordance with section 160 of the Constitution.
The writ then appoints the referendum polling day.
The group says the Constitution Amendment Bill has not yet completed its third reading and claims the constitutional and statutory conditions necessary to trigger the referendum have therefore not been satisfied.
