Pillay lodges complaint against NFP provisional candidate
Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem has forwarded a complaint against a provisional election candidate for the National Federation Party to the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC).
Mr Saneem says he wants FICAC to investigate alleged racist statements made by Pradeep Chandra in Ba.
He confirmed receiving the complaint from Assistant Minister for Agriculture Viam Pillay last weekend and had forwarded it to FICAC for “necessary investigations”. “FICAC will now take up their own procedures in the investigation,” Mr Saneem said. “At this point in time the FEO would like to call for a fair and ethical campaign.” Meanwhile, in a statement sent yesterday, FICAC could neither confirm or deny investigations on the issue raised.
Mr Chandra has strongly denied reports of his comments. So has NFP Leader Biman Prasad, who criticised the Fiji Sun for reporting on the issue.
Mr Pillay said he had been receiving complaints from communities in Ba about Mr Chandra allegedly making anti-Muslim comments.
“I was told that Mr Chandra allegedly told the communities in Ba that ‘the red flags for prayer ceremonies will go down and the green flags will come up. Muslims will take over the country’.
“I made a formal complaint to the Supervisor of Elections reporting what has been happening on the ground.
“We do not condone such words and we will not entertain such words.
“After people have spoken up, the communities are much more alert and they do not want such things to happen there because they are all united and have lived peacefully,” Mr Pillay said.