Former Supervisor of Elections and prominent lawyer Jon Apted

The Ministry of Local Government is currently developing an electoral system that addresses the diversity within each municipality, demanding tailored governance solutions to address the concerns of the people.

Permanent Secretary for Local Government, Seema Sharma, states that there is a pressing need for voter awareness before conducting municipal elections.

“The voters needs to know what they are going to vote for. What exactly is a local government? What ward they’ll fall in and how will they vote? What makes them an eligible voter?”

Former Supervisor of Elections and prominent lawyer Jon Apted says the contrast in responsibilities between municipal councils and parliamentary bodies, emphasizing the need for a distinct approach to address the specific needs of various municipalities across the nation.

According to Apted, we all tend to look at things in a binary manner.

“People don’t remember what a council is supposed to do. Even the people who work on the council don’t know what an elected council is supposed to do. The people of the municipalities themselves have forgotten that they have the right to control the municipality.”

Apted believes that Fiji does not have a single type of municipality so the electoral system should be able to meet the needs of that diverse range of municipalities.

These discussions were held as Dialogue Fiji hosted a panel discussion on electoral system design in the lead-up to Fiji’s municipal election, which stood as a significant milestone in Fiji’s democratic journey.