Policy Watch: The Referendum Budget Without a Framework

The government has budgeted for a referendum it cannot yet legally hold.

Finance Minister Esrom Immanuel stated that the government has advanced $5 million for election preparations, covering the local government elections, the general election, and a referendum. "We are prepared for that. We budgeted for that," he said.

Supervisor of Elections Ana Mataiciwa told a media briefing on 29 May that she cannot request a budget for a referendum. There is no legal framework to make the request.

The gap

The legal framework the FEO is waiting for is the National Referendum Bill. Until it passes Parliament, the FEO has no statutory basis to plan, staff, or budget for a referendum. The Finance Minister can allocate funds. The FEO cannot act on them for referendum purposes until the bill becomes law.

The bill has been introduced but has not passed. The Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights has concluded its public hearings and promised amendments. Its report has not been tabled.

What needs to change

FPR's analysis of the National Referendum Bill, published this week in the DevPolicy Blog, found that as currently drafted, the bill gives the government significant control over the flow of information during a referendum campaign while restricting civil society, media, and ordinary citizens from participating meaningfully in public debate.

The Fiji Labour Party called the bill unconstitutional. The Fiji Women's Rights Movement warned that Section 23 could criminalise ordinary advocacy. The Standing Committee chairperson acknowledged the concerns and promised they would be addressed.

The bill cannot function as a credible legal framework until those amendments are made and the amended bill passes Parliament.

The timeline

The election window opens on 7 August 2026. The earliest the Writ of Elections can be issued is 24 June 2026. The Constitutional Review Commission has until 31 August 2026 to deliver its recommendations, three weeks after the earliest possible election date.

A referendum before the general election requires the National Referendum Bill to pass in amended form, the CRC to deliver its recommendations, and Parliament to pass a constitutional amendment bill with a two-thirds majority. None of these steps has been completed.

The government has allocated money for a process it has not yet made legal, on a question it has not yet put to the public.

What FPR is watching

One. Whether the Standing Committee tables its report before the Writ of Elections is issued, and whether the amended bill addresses the concerns about civil society and media participation raised in submissions.

Two. Whether Parliament can pass both the amended bill and a constitutional amendment bill before the election window closes. And whether the Finance Minister's $5 million allocation is redirected if the referendum timeline proves unworkable.

Related: "Fiji's National Referendum Bill: What it says, what it restricts, and why it matters," Fiji Political Review, DevPolicy Blog, 2 June 2026. https://devpolicy.org/fijis-national-referendum-bill-what-it-says-what-it-restricts-and-why-it-matters-20260602/

Sources: Finance Minister Esrom Immanuel, Fiji Sun; Supervisor of Elections Ana Mataiciwa, FEO media briefing, 29 May 2026; Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights, public hearing record.