The Fijian Elections Office (FEO) has received the audited accounts submitted by Fiji’s opposition party, FijiFirst, prompting the lifting of their suspension.
In a statement this afternoon, the Acting Registrar of Political Parties, Ana Mataiciwa, confirmed that FijiFirst has complied with the requirements of the law.
“FijiFirst submitted their audited accounts to the FEO this afternoon and having complied with the requirements of the Law, the suspension is now lifted.”
It is understood the decision to lift the suspension came after determining the audited accounts of the party met the requirements when assessed against Fiji Institute of Accounts (FIA) standards.
An aspect that the New Generation Party (in suspension) did not meet hence remains in suspension, Mataiciwa stated in the same statement.
The suspended party had submitted its accounts in May and was awaiting the nod from the FEO on whether it met FIA standards.
Should NGP (in suspension) not comply, this suspension will be extended to July 15, after which they will need to provide justification for why they should not be deregistered.
FijiFirst was suspended on May 17 along with NGP (in suspension) and two other parties after they failed to submit their audited accounts on time as required under the Political Parties (Registration, Conduct, Funding & Disclosures) Act.
Section 26(2) of the act requires all parties to provide to the Registrar, within three months after the end of each financial year, the record of its income, expenditure, asset, and liabilities audited by an auditor certified by the FIA.
Parties were given an extension until 29 April 2023 to comply but did not, prompting their suspension.
