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A strong call is being made for urgent changes to Fiji’s electoral laws, with concerns that candidates with fewer votes are still able to enter Parliament while those with majority support are left out.
Savusavu resident Eremasi Baleiserea has raised this issue, arguing that it is an injustice to voters when candidates with fewer votes hold power in Parliament.
He insists that the electoral system needs to be overhauled to better reflect the will of the majority.
“I believe we need to change the electoral system that we have at the moment. There is a need to change because if we’re getting in a person with 100 votes into parliament, leaving behind someone who’s got 2,000 votes then we are doing injustice to the voters themselves.”
Baleiserea says that key decisions often come down to the votes of a candidate with little support, raising doubts about the fairness of such decisions and undermining true representation, with some voters’ voices effectively silenced.
Electoral Law Reform Chair Daniel Fatiaki has promised to review all submissions before finalizing the report.
“We had so many interesting novel propositions put to us that we never even thought about and I think that’s wonderful because it means the more we progress the more people become interested the more they start to think about it and the more ideas we have and that will help us in making recommendations in the end ultimately of what the people want”
Meanwhile, with a commitment to reviewing all proposals, the government could be on the brink of implementing changes that ensure a fairer electoral process for all Fijians.
