No Doubts About Free, Fair Poll, Says UN Co-ordinator
Sanaka Samarasinha says he believes and has no doubt the 2018 General Election will be free and fair. The United Nations Resident Co-ordinator said he was also looking forward to a free and fair campaign and general election.
“I am looking forward to a robust campaign and an engagement of the whole society in a constructive way,” Mr Samarasinha said.
“It is another step in terms of establishing Fiji as a democracy.
“It is also an opportunity to have a dialogue on issues and whoever ends up coming into power should reflect on those issues that surface during this time leading up to the election.”
Mr Samarasinha said he was also looking forward to the day after election, the day when the engine starts. He also commended Fiji’s presidency of COP23.
“You’ve done a really great job leading the COP 23 and a great job with the Ocean conference,” Mr Samarasinha said.
“One thing we must help Fiji and the region continue to do is not to lose the momentum gained during COP 23.” He also highlighted that United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was working closely with the Government on preparing a Voluntary National Review (VNR) Report on Sustainable Development.
The Government will be delivering this report in New York next year around June. The VNRs seek to promote the monitoring of progress, the sharing of experiences and the acceleration of action for implementation. In addition, VNRs aim to assess policy and strengthen institutional arrangements to catalyse multi-stakeholder engagement in the context of the 2030 Agenda.
“We don’t have enough time, but we can if we do these processes right, we can see what needs to be done differently,” Mr Samarasinha said.
“We can bring on board more stakeholders for the processes of achieving these goals with the support of the UN and other organisations.”
Meanwhile, Mr Samarasinha will be leaving for Singapore today and he will be back before the Royal Visit later this month.
He is originally from Sri Lanka.