Claim FijiFirst in breach of decree

The United Front for a Democratic Fiji says a false declaration by the regime leader’s proposed political party has legal consequences for every one of its initial 40,000 members.

Last week, Rear Admiral Frank Bainimarama’s proposed Fiji First party submitted its registration papers, which included the name of one supporter, Bijai Prasad, who wrongly claimed to have no criminal record – an offence that can incur a fine and up to five years in prison or both.

Prasad was jailed for a year 32 years ago.

Later, in 1993, he was stripped of Australian citizenship failing to declare that he had been convicted and jailed for larceny as a civil servant in Fiji in 1983.

Section 48 (6) of the Political Parties Decree says a person disqualified from holding public office under any written law is not eligible to be an applicant, a member or an office holder of a proposed political party or a political party registered under the Decree.

On May 9 Prasad announced he was resigning his position as FijiFirst’s vice president to protect his family’s reputation and his own integrity.

The political parties decree says if a party commits such an offence, every officer of the party is deemed to have committed the offence.

The Front’s co-ordinator, Mick Beddoes, says the breach will be a test for the new Supervisor of Election who is tasked with enforcing the decree.

“Because there was a false declaration, that offence applies to all of the applicants of Fiji First plus the 40,000 signatories. They have all committed an offence according to that decree.”

Beddoes says he believes the decree, which he says is one of many unreasonable decrees issued by the regime, was drafted with malicious intent to hamper the activities of opposition parties.