The Fijian Elections Office (FEO) is inviting expressions of interest from members of the public to attend a multi-stakeholder forum, at month-end, designed to brainstorm and develop strategies on ‘Enhancing Voter Participation’ in the 2022 General Election.
Scheduled for 30 March, the forum which is limited to up to 50 participants at this stage will also feature reps from political parties, civil society organizations[CSO’s], media, voters, academia as well as other agencies and partners of the FEO.
It is understood that 10 seats have been set aside for public reps at the forum the venue for which is still to be confirmed.
Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem said the forum which is part of the FEO’s ‘Know Your Election’ campaign that is currently taking place across the country stems from the need to improve turnout in elections. In the 2014 Elections, Fiji recorded an 84 percent turnout, but in 2018, this dropped to 72 percent.
“This drop in the turnout is a reason for concern and as such during this nationwide campaign, it is ideal to look at best practices and options to create greater participation in the election,” Saneem said.
“The participation of members of the public will provide a greater input on the ground level anticipation towards the Election, as well provide the other stakeholders present there to remap their strategies in meeting the members of the general public.”
Members of the public keen to be part of the forum, to share their views and suggestions as to how to improve participation in the 2022 General Elections, are advised to send in their EOI to eric.drodrolagi@feo.org.fj by 4pm Friday 18 March.
The 1-day stakeholder forum will comprise three to four brainstorming sessions depending on panel size and numbers.
