[File Photo]
The National Federation Party has proposed replacing Fiji’s current electoral system with a Mixed Member Proportional system, saying it will be easier for people to understand and provide fairer representation.
While making submissions before the Constitutional Review Commission, NFP Leader Professor Biman Prasad said many people found the current voting system confusing because voters had to choose candidate numbers instead of names or party symbols.
“The MMP system definitely would be a much better system, much simpler system because voters will have two ballot papers. One would be for the constituencies where they can have the photo, they can know the constituency like what we used to have before.”
Prof Prasad adds that NFP is proposing a 70-member Parliament, with 25 constituency MPs and 45 party list MPs elected through proportional representation.
“We are recommending 25 constituencies and 45 list members. List members will come from the proportionality of the votes that a party gets and we’re saying that the threshold should be just 5% as it is. So yes, the MMP voting system ballot paper will be easier and people would become much more familiar but we also need time to make the transition.”
According to Prof Prasad, the system will improve the representation of women, young people and minority groups while making voting easier for the public.
