"The Speaker Epeli Nailatikau should have known better, and should at least have applied some common sense to have matters verified before moving to instantly remove Niko from Parliament. But he didn't. This makes Nailatikau incompetent and foolish, so he brought the embarrassment upon himself and his office. Remember, this is the same Nailatikau who ruled that the word IMBECILE was not an un-parliamentary word, because it was the AG Khaiyum who had said it! What an imbecile!" TRUTH FOR FIJI |  |
"[Niko] Nawaikula took the matter to court when he lost his parliamentary seat as a result of the Supervisor’s actions. This is yet another Court decision, among several others, that has gone against the Supervisor of Elections. It brings disrepute to the high office of the Supervisor and shows that Mr Saneem is not competent enough to hold such an important constitutional office. As we move closer to the 2022 elections, it is crucial that a qualified, mature, competent and independent Supervisor of Elections be appointed." FLP leader Mahendra Chaudhry
Fiji Labour Party official presss release: Labour Leader Mahendra Chaudhry has called for the removal of Mohammed Saneem as Supervisor of Elections following the ruling against him by the Court of Disputed Returns in the case of Sodelpa MP Niko Nawaikula.
In a landmark ruling on Tuesday, the Court of Disputed Returns presided over by Chief Justice Kamal Kumar and Justice Angela Wati, found that the Supervisor had acted “wrongfully and unlawfully” in removing Nawaikula’s name from the National Register of Voters because he had registered under his common name rather than that on his birth certificate.
Nawaikula took the matter to court when he lost his parliamentary seat as a result of the Supervisor’s actions.
"This is yet another Court decision, among several others, that has gone against the Supervisor of Elections.
"It brings disrepute to the high office of the Supervisor and shows that Mr Saneem is not competent enough to hold such an important constitutional office.
"As we move closer to the 2022 elections, it is crucial that a qualified, mature, competent and independent Supervisor of Elections be appointed," said Mr Chaudhry .
Mr Saneem’s appointment to the post in 2014 by the then President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau on the advise of the Attorney General and Minister for Elections Sayed-Khaiyum, without him meeting the minimum requirements of the office, was the subject of considerable controversy at the time.
Since then he has made a number of controversial decisions which call to question his maturity, independence and impartiality in dealings with opposition political parties and their members.
Opposition parties have repeatedly called for his removal but these have been ignored by the FF government.
Previous cases in recent years that have gone against Mr Saneem involve the former Fiji First Education Minister Mahendra Reddy, and former Sodelpa MPs Sitiveni Rabuka and Ratu Isoa Tikoca.
In November 2016, the Court of Appeal had ruled against the Supervisor in an action taken by the Electoral Commission regarding the eligibility of two elections candidates. He had disallowed the candidacy of Steven Singh of the Fiji Labour Party while allowing that of Praveen Kumar (Bala) of the Fiji First Party in 2014.
The Electoral Commission had ruled against his decision but Saneem refused to comply resulting in the Commission taking the matter to Court.
In its judgment, the Appeal’s Court strongly denounced Mr Saneem for ‘insubordination’ to the Electoral Commission and declared that he must comply with all decisions and directives given to him in the performance of his duties by the Electoral Commission.
Mr Saneem had said at the time that he would appeal the decision but an appeal was never filed.
It should also be noted that the Multinational Observer Group (MOG) in its 2018 Report had specifically noted that there is “lack of trust in some quarters” in the Fijian Elections Office.
Earlier that year the visiting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein had questioned whether Fiji’s constitutional offices including the Fijian Elections Office were “truly autonomous”.
In a landmark ruling on Tuesday, the Court of Disputed Returns presided over by Chief Justice Kamal Kumar and Justice Angela Wati, found that the Supervisor had acted “wrongfully and unlawfully” in removing Nawaikula’s name from the National Register of Voters because he had registered under his common name rather than that on his birth certificate.
Nawaikula took the matter to court when he lost his parliamentary seat as a result of the Supervisor’s actions.
"This is yet another Court decision, among several others, that has gone against the Supervisor of Elections.
"It brings disrepute to the high office of the Supervisor and shows that Mr Saneem is not competent enough to hold such an important constitutional office.
"As we move closer to the 2022 elections, it is crucial that a qualified, mature, competent and independent Supervisor of Elections be appointed," said Mr Chaudhry .
Mr Saneem’s appointment to the post in 2014 by the then President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau on the advise of the Attorney General and Minister for Elections Sayed-Khaiyum, without him meeting the minimum requirements of the office, was the subject of considerable controversy at the time.
Since then he has made a number of controversial decisions which call to question his maturity, independence and impartiality in dealings with opposition political parties and their members.
Opposition parties have repeatedly called for his removal but these have been ignored by the FF government.
Previous cases in recent years that have gone against Mr Saneem involve the former Fiji First Education Minister Mahendra Reddy, and former Sodelpa MPs Sitiveni Rabuka and Ratu Isoa Tikoca.
In November 2016, the Court of Appeal had ruled against the Supervisor in an action taken by the Electoral Commission regarding the eligibility of two elections candidates. He had disallowed the candidacy of Steven Singh of the Fiji Labour Party while allowing that of Praveen Kumar (Bala) of the Fiji First Party in 2014.
The Electoral Commission had ruled against his decision but Saneem refused to comply resulting in the Commission taking the matter to Court.
In its judgment, the Appeal’s Court strongly denounced Mr Saneem for ‘insubordination’ to the Electoral Commission and declared that he must comply with all decisions and directives given to him in the performance of his duties by the Electoral Commission.
Mr Saneem had said at the time that he would appeal the decision but an appeal was never filed.
It should also be noted that the Multinational Observer Group (MOG) in its 2018 Report had specifically noted that there is “lack of trust in some quarters” in the Fijian Elections Office.
Earlier that year the visiting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein had questioned whether Fiji’s constitutional offices including the Fijian Elections Office were “truly autonomous”.
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FIJI'S DUMBEST MP: How could NIKO NAWAIKULA, a practising lawyer, stand up in Parliament and BRAG that the name on his Fiji VOTER ID is different from his BIRTH CERTIFICATE. Lucky to be back in Parliament!
And, for Kalou's sake, don't flash your Indigenous Rights Champion Actor's Guild Card to project yourself as a victim of Aiyaz Khaiyum. Nawaikula's revelation reminds us of America's Dumbest Criminals, an American reality series that aired in syndication from September 1996 to 2000. While some captures featured in the show were easy and straightforward due to obvious oversights or mistakes by the offenders, many others were much tougher and sometimes required greater resources. Many criminals put together their game plan beautifully but were tripped up by a simple oversight (such as forgetting to fill the tank of the getaway car). Others actually got away clean, but without the goods, while others were captured because the arresting officers were not fooled by them.
