FijiFirst General Secretary, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has written a letter of complaint to the Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem regarding the conduct of the People’s Alliance and the National Federation Party, and urges the Fijian Elections Office to take appropriate action.
Sayed-Khaiyum says they refer to what he says are false statements regarding TELS made by Ahmed Bhamji at what appears to be a NFP campaign rally.
He says Bhamji’s statement is factually incorrect as no student is given a lifetime of slavery if he or she obtains tertiary education through TELS.
Photo provided by the Fiji First General Secretary in the complaint letter to the SoE
Sayed-Khaiyum says it is absurd to compare Girmit with TELS, and is an insult to the Girmitiyas and their descendants.
He also says the loan repayment amount can be no more than 20 percent of the graduate student’s gross annual income, and commences only when the student is employed. He further says a guarantor will only be required to pay the amount owed by the student where the student deliberately avoids payment.
The FijiFirst General Secretary has also raised concern regarding campaign material of the NFP and People’s Alliance.
He says recently NFP’s invitation for a talanoa session appeared in a flyer alongside a birthday invitation in Olosara, Sigatoka.
Sayed-Khaiyum says similarly, a flyer appeared on social media for a fundraising gala dinner which had ticket prices at $150 per head and $1,500 per table. He says the flyer bears the party logo and photo of the People’s Alliance Leader, Sitiveni Rabuka.
He has also listed other People’s Alliance fundraising event flyers which he says breach the requirements of the Electoral Act.
Sayed-Khaiyum says he has also been informed by an individual who attended a fundraising dinner of the People’s Alliance, held in Auckland on June 25th 2022, and paid $200 to attend the event however was not issued with a receipt, nor did the party ask for the individual’s name. He says this is clearly in breach of the laws surrounding political party donations.
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