Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says the Acting Supervisor of Elections Ana Mataiciwa will be given time to respond to a letter of complaint, calling for her removal.
The letter was written by the Electoral Commission Chair, Barbara Malimali and was delivered to the Constitutional Offices Commission Secretariat, last Tuesday.
The Prime Minister confirmed that he had seen the letter; however did not disclose the contents of the letter.
Rabuka said the letter COC received noted the Electoral discontentment with some decisions made by the Acting Supervisor of Elections.
He said that the Chairperson made several recommendations in the letter which the commission would look into.
Fiji Labour Party
Former Prime Minister and Fiji Labour Party Leader Mahendra Chaudhry said that there were plans in place to remove Ana Mataiciwa as ASOE and that this information had been circulated to the Prime Minister and senior members of government.
Chaudhry said: “We believe from what has transpired that there are elements within government seeking to remove Mataiciwa because she referred complaints lodged against senior Cabinet Ministers to FICAC.”
“If so, this is outright interference with the due process particularly as the appointment had already been made according to the Prime Minister who is the Chair of CCC,” Chaudhry said.
The former Prime Minister said during their quarterly meeting last week, all opposition political parties present (Labour, NFP, Unity and All Peoples Party had expressed confidence in Mataiciwa and had requested confirmation of her appointment without any further delay.
“We believe the Constitutional Offices Commission had decided to appoint Mataiciwa who has been acting in that position since January 2023,” he said.
