Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum Photo: Facebook/Fiji govt
Frank Bainimarama's FijiFirst has announced its first batch of 20 proposed candidates for the 2022 general elections.
There are six former school teachers, with former Commander of Fiji's military Viliame Naupoto, and former Commission of Police and diplomat, Ioane Na-ivalurua also in the list.
The former Land Transport Authority chief executive officer Naisa Tuinaceva is also in the line-up.
Sayed-Khaiyum announced the list in Suva, adding that only one of the 27 current MPs had not reapplied.
He said the party received close to 200 applications and they will be announcing the rest of the candidates in the weeks to come.
He said they also received a large number of applications from young people in Fiji.
"We have people who actually just started their first year at university who applied. People who have just finished university have applied. So, it is obvious that a lot of young people find FijiFirst attractive in the sense of their values and principles and ideas."
Sayed-Khaiyum keeps posts despite opposition parties pressure
Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has also refused to bow to opposition parties demands for him to relinquish some of his ministerial portfolios, despite allegations of a conflict of interest.
He was probed by local journalists, as to whether he intends to step down as the minister responsible for elections once the writ of elections is issued.
Sayed-Khaiyum responded that during the 2001 and 2006 elections, the leader of the then-ruling party - Social Democratic Liberal - was also the elections minister. He noted that although a minister has overall responsibility under an Act, that they are not directly involved in the day-to-day work carried out by their ministry.
He also noted that, in the past, Fiji had not had caretaker governments prior to elections. Sayed-Khaiyum stated that no concerns had been raised about this in the past, and he had not been provided with any evidence of untoward behaviour as a result.
As Fijians await the announcement of the official date for this year's general election, a controversy has arisen around a string of electoral amendments, introduced by the ruling Fiji First government.
These amendments give greater power to the supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem, and impose strict election requirements.
-RNZ Pacific
- Fiji Sun