COLLECTIVE LIABILITY: Vice-President Bijai Prasad's false declaration about his past criminal conviction means the proposed Fiji First Party's application should be thrown out by regime's Supervisor of Elections!

THE United Front for a Democratic Fiji says a false declaration by the regime leader’s proposed political party has legal consequences for every one of its initial 40,000 members. Last week, Rear Admiral Frank Bainimarama’s proposed Fiji First party submitted its registration papers, which included the name of one supporter, Bijai Prasad, who wrongly claimed to have no criminal record – an offence that can incur a fine and up to five years in prison or both. The political parties decree says if a party commits such an offence, every officer of the party is deemed to have committed the offence. The Front’s co-ordinator, Mick Beddoes, says the breach will be a test for the new Supervisor of Election who is tasked with enforcing the decree. “Because there was a false declaration, that offence applies to all of the applicants of Fiji First plus the 40,000 signatories. They have all committed an offence according to that decree.” Mick Beddoes says he believes the decree, which is one of many unreasonable decrees, was drafted with malicious intent.