This week’s sitting of the Fijian Parliament in the capital Suva continued without the country main opposition party SODELPA following its suspension by the Registrar of Political Parties, who is also the country’s Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem.
The suspension is for 60 days, during which the party will need to ensure compliance to Fiji’s Political Party Act, or face de-registration altogether. Party MPs are not allowed to attend parliamentary sessions during their suspension, nor attend their parliamentary office. They will not be paid either.
Internal bickering in the party has been brewing for sometime under the leadership of former prime minister and now party leader, Sitiveni Rabuka. This blew up last weekend when party members held two separate meetings to appoint party executives.
Trouble in the party stemmed from its annual meeting last year, where a a group of party members when to court to declare the outcome of the elections of executives at the AGM. Fiji’s High Court ruled accordingly, and ordered the party to hold fresh elections.