Press Releases
Dispatch of Election Observers to General Election in Fiji
1. Upon invitation of the Government of Fiji, the Government of Japan decided to dispatch election observers (consisting of officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Embassy of Japan in Fiji, JICA staff and an outside expert) to contribute to free and fair general election to be held in Fiji on 17 September. The election observers will perform monitoring of preparations for the election, and casting and counting of votes as members of the Multinational Observer Group (MOG).
2. This will be the first general election to be held after the military coup in December 2006. It is expected that holding of a free and fair election will greatly accelerate the transformation towards consolidation of democracy in Fiji. Therefore, the Government of Japan decided to make a contribution to the conduct of the election in Fiji through the dispatch of the election observers.
3. The government of Japan also has decided to dispatch Ms. Ryoko Yonamine, Gender and Peacebuilding Consultant (ALMEC Corporation) as an outside expert on gender issues for the first time for Japan’s election observers.