The Fijian Elections Office has described as false and misleading a social media post by People’s Alliance Party member Lynda Tabuya today, directing her to remove or correct the post immediately.
In a Facebook posting, that has since been removed, Tabuya stated that the Supervisor of Elections had facilitated the registration of the public at a school in Lautoka yesterday.
“The Fijian Elections Office, has this afternoon issued a Section 144A Notice under the Electoral Act 2014 to Lynda Tabuya directing her to remove or correct a Facebook post in which she mentions that on 4th March 2022, a team from the FEO facilitated registration of members of the public at a school premises when the same is incorrect, misleading and false,” an FEO statement said.
Under section 144A, individuals or parties who fail to adhere to SOE directives are referred to FICAC for further investigation. The penalty for failing to comply with the directive is five (5) years imprisonment or $50,000.
In a letter by the SOE undersigned by Deputy Supervisor of Elections Ana Mataiciwa, Tabuya was reminded that registrations in secondary schools are meant “for students and teachers only and not for the general public.
The FEO also claimed that some individuals claiming to be party activitists “attempted to trespass into the school premises but were refused entry by the school administration” adding that it would refer such actions to relevant authorities for investigation.