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SOE meets Political Party Treasurers on disclosure requirements

February 18, 2021 4:40 pm

[Source: FEO]

A meeting was held today in relation to the planned audit guidelines to be developed for the audit of registered political parties’ accounts.

During the meeting, Registrar of Political Parties Mohammed Saneem highlighted the discrepancies found in the accounts of political parties received by the Fijian Elections Office since 2015.

He also presented the various provisions of the laws to highlight to political parties the compliance requirements based on each of the provisions of the Political Parties Act.

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The general agreement between the attendees and Saneem was that a guideline for the audit of political party accounts was necessary and that all the parties together with the FEO will contribute to the development of the guideline.

Another meeting will be held between the Supervisor of Elections and the auditors of the registered political parties together with representatives or accountants of the political parties next week Thursday at the FEO.

The Fijian Elections Office will continue to work on identifying the various checklist requirements that auditors need to present when they audit the accounts of political parties.

Electoral Commissioner Jawahar Lal who is also a chartered accountant by profession highlighted that it is necessary for the presentation of proper disclosures and accounts for political parties to get the basics right.

He adds they will be working closely with the Fiji Institute of Accountants to develop some guidelines.

Lal also says political parties should prepare their financial policies so that they are able to recognize income and donations based on the requirements of the law and when it comes to the publication of these requirements, they are in a comfortable position to be able to do so at ease without having to scurry through the records of the entire year.