An official communication will be sent to Fiji’s President confirming the new People’s Alliance, National Federation Party and Sodelpa government is ready to lead under the new Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka.

NFP leader Professor Biman Prasad said the leaders were pleased to give Fijians a Christmas present of a strong and united coalition government ready to respond to their call for change.

“People have chosen a new way, a new path, and a new government and we the coalition partners — now the People’s Alliance, the NFP and Sodelpa — promise the people of Fiji that a new era will be starting as the new government takes on the power in this country.”

• READ MORE: Other Fiji election reports

People’s Alliance leader Sitiveni Rabuka thanked Fijians, saying they had voted for change and the coalition had given them that.

He also thanked outgoing FijiFirst Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and his cabinet for running the affairs of the nation for the past 16 years.

“Losing the election is not the end. I lost in 1999 and I kept trying. I’ve been given the opportunity this time, once in 2018 and again this time and different party. Play your cards right. Lead your team well and work hard.”

Sixteen members of the Sodelpa management board voted in favour of PAP and NFP, while 14 voted for FijiFirst.

It’s the big day today! We will get to know the make-up of our Parliament. The results saw FijiFirst leading the vote count — but failing to gain a majority (26 seats) — followed by the People’s Alliance (21), the National Federation Party (5) and the Social Democratic Liberal Party (3).

Pundits were predicting Sodelpa could become ‘kingmakers” in the event of a tight finish, and based on them getting past the threshold!

Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem has not announced the total voter turnout, but he said yesterday this figure would be known today.

• READ MORE: Last shall be first … Fiji’s kingmaker party considering all options
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• Fiji elections: Rabuka calls for calm after police interrogation
• Other Fiji election reports

The 353,247 figure he released on Election Day, he said, was from 1200 or so polling stations, not 1400. There can be no doubts about the interest now focused on the outcome.

It had been a fiery tussle leading up to the elections on December 14.

Campaigns inched out attacks that turned ugly at times, and some became personal. When it mattered, we were told of a low voter turnout. All that will now be cast aside as we await the final announcement.

Will there be an outright winner?

Or will there be a role for Sodelpa to play? Voters would be keenly following how the numbers add up.

The atmosphere has been supercharged, highly emotional, and driving through divisions as party followers cling onto hope.

There is great suspense and anxiety! It isn’t a pleasant scenario.

The Supervisor of Elections has been highly visible, answering questions raised by party supporters and the local and international media.

In the face of that sits the voter, each with emotional responses that are on a leash. There were questions raised by political parties following that glitch on the first night of counting.

Press conferences were called by the parties highlighting their views on the turn of events. Social media has also been rife with claims and counter claims.

In saying that, the race was tight! That sets the stage for the big announcement. For whatever it’s worth, the result will end speculation and may raise discussions on eventualities if things don’t end the way the leading party leaders want it to.

The guessing game is on! Rumours were rife in the Capital City, and emotions were quite intense in many quarters. But we wait with bated breath for the big reveal!

This editorial was published in The Sunday Times on 18 December 2022 and has been edited slightly in the light of developments. Republished with permission.

Fiji police detained the leader of the People’s Alliance Party, Sitiveni Rabuka, last night and questioned him about his activities during this week as the Fijian Elections Office continues with the official vote count of the contested 2022 poll results.

Rabuka was summoned along with his party general secretary, Sakiasi Ditoka. around 8pm local time and interrogated at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in Toorak for about two hours before they were both released without being charged.

His arrest comes following comments he made this week calling for a military intervention in the country’s election.

Police also took in the head of the Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma, Reverend Ili Vunisuwai, for questioning at the Valelevu police station in Nasinu.

Church leader detained
Asked if he had anticipated being summoned by the police, he replied “I don’t want to answer that question” as his vehicle drove away.

Police also took in the head of the Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma, Reverend Ili Vunisuwai, for questioning at the Valelevu police station in Nasinu.

Vunisiwai had sent a letter on behalf of the Methodist Church to the Fiji President on Thursday expressing concern about the counting of the votes and inconsistencies in the electronic results management app and included the military commander and police chief in the communication.

Rabuka released after being questioned by the CID and still smiling.

Q: Do you fear anything?

Rabuka: NO. #FijiVotes2022 pic.twitter.com/LuuBEzfeR5

— Kelvin Anthony (@kelvinfiji) December 16, 2022

Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho has also confirmed to local media they were investigating two candidates from We Unite Fiji party for “allegedly calling for a mass gathering to protest election process” outside the main counting centre in Suva.

RNZ Pacific has contacted Fiji police for comment.

Tight race as official vote count continues
As of 3am Saturday local time in Fiji, Rabuka’s People’s Alliance Party were running a close second to the incumbent Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama’s FijiFirst.

With votes from 717 of 2071 polling stations officially validated, FijiFirst were sitting on 40.2 percent of votes counted so far and the People’s Alliance Party were at 36.9 percent.

In third place was the National Federation Party on 8.1 percent followed by the Social Democratic Liberal Party (5.9 percent) only slightly above the 5 percent threshold required to make it into Parliament.

The Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem, has said their aim is to complete the official count by Sunday afternoon.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

The Fiji Elections Office app is back online after a glitch last night forced the suspension of provisional results.

Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem briefed media in the early hours of today saying attempts to restart a failed data transfer had caused the app to glitch out and give a disproportionate amount of votes to some candidates.

Two candidates in particular received a boost of about 28,000 and 14,000 votes respectively.

• READ MORE:  Fiji elections: Polls close and early results favour People’s Alliance
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“The situation occurred because of the termination of a data transfer. And then when we retried to do it, that’s when things got messy. Of course, with the results that are provisional right now, we are uploading you know with the result management system data directly,” Saneem explained.

Saneem reassured media the problem had now been rectified and promised to email media copies of data releases being uploaded to the app going forward to 7am Fiji time, so that they could verify for themselves the data was accurately reflected in the app.

At 7am provisional results stopped being released and the official count began.

No further provisional results were being released, and official results are expected on Sunday.

Reassurances for political parties?
Responding to a question from RNZ Pacific’s regional correspondent Kelvin Anthony about whether he had any reassurances for political parties that might be concerned about the app malfunctioning, Saneem replied: “Well, none of the political parties are at the results centre.

“So, we believe that they have full confidence in the system.”

Saneem stressed that manual data entry had not stopped while the app was down, and that the counting process was well under way and would continue throughout today.

The Supervisor of Elections also wanted to make it clear that data reloaded onto the app for the restart of the provisional results roll-out was from a different set of polling stations than the one released at 9pm last night, hence the difference in the data sets.

The first results released at last night had shown the People’s Alliance Party in the lead with 2600 votes over Fiji First’s 667 votes.

The new results released at the relaunch of the app around 2.30am Fiji time showed FijiFirst leading with 65,949 votes over the People’s Alliance Party who had 50,348 votes, with 531 of 2071 stations counted.

“It’s not the exact same polling stations that we had initially uploaded. But this is 531 sets of data that has been pulled by the laptop,” Saneem explained.

“We will email all the media, the result management system print out in a PDF format for you to be able to verify that the data that is on the app against the provisional results – by party – that has been printed out by the result management system,” he said.

Fiji uses an open list proportional electoral system with the whole nation voting as a single constituency.

This year nine political parties are contesting 55 seats in the country’s unicameral Parliament.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

Former politician Remesio Rogovakalali is hoping to see transparency and engagement in the next term of government, no matter which party is elected.

The 77-year-old principal from Corpus Christi Teachers College in Nasese says he wants to see integrity and truth among politicians.

“I’d like to also see more engagement between government, non-governmental organisations and unions,” he told Wansolwara after voting at Suva Grammar School this morning.

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“Fijians are more educated than previous years, education is only getting better and this will make Fijian democracy stronger.”

Rogovakalali carries a wealth of experience in politics, having stood for election twice in 2001 and 2006.

Reflecting on his time in politics, he believes truth is a powerful tool and must be adopted more in Fijian politics.

“I’ve voted at every election and it carries immense value to be able to have our voices heard. I am urging all Fijians to vote and exercise your right and civic duty,” he said.

Another figurehead at the polls today was Fiji Labour Party Leader Mahendra Chaudhry, who also called on Fijian citizens to cast their votes before 6pm.

The former PM cast his vote at 10.46am at the University of the South Pacific’s Statham Campus polling station in Suva Point with his wife, Virmatee Chaudhry.

He said reports of wide voter turnout across the country were promising signs of Fiji’s interest in the results of the election.

“To citizens still contemplating whether or not they will cast their vote, please come and vote, take part in the election. This is your future and you must exercise your right to vote,” he said.

Voters like Mereani Babara, who moved from Tavua to Baulevu in Nausori five months ago, hopes the elected government would address sanitation and water woes in areas like Waidra, Baulevu.

She looked forward to casting her vote at Koroqaqa Primary School and urged other Fijians to make their way to their designated polling venue before the 6pm deadline.

Published in collaboration with the University of the South Pacific journalism programme’s Wansolwara News.

Water bottles, umbrellas and fans were common accessories for voters across Fiji today. Lines at polling stations nationwide grew quickly in the early morning, as Fijians tried to beat the midday heat.

Lines at the University of the South Pacific’s Statham Campus polling venue at Suva Point extended across the hot carpark.

In spite of the early morning rush by voters to cast their ballots, by midday Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem noted that voter turnout “is not looking very promising” as only 164,954 voters at 1145 polling stations (27.24 percent of the total registered voters) had cast their ballots by 11am.

• READ MORE: Voters turn up in numbers as Fiji’s 2022 election gets underway
• Fijians heading to the polls today for third post-coup election
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He urged every registered Fijian voter to come out and vote, and to make use of the free public transport to get to polling venues in their localities.

“The weather is good, the polling venue is ready, the line is gone, all you have to do now is show up and vote,” Saneem said during the midday Polling Day update at the National Results Centre in Suva.

“If you have voted, check in on your family members who haven’t voted. Take them out and make them vote. Spend the next 5-6 hours to get family members to go out and vote.

“If you need transport on election day, send an SMS of your VoterCard number to 1500. That SMS reply will tell you the number and details of the person monitoring public transport in that area.

‘Go and vote’
“This free public transport service will continue until 4pm so make use of it now, go and vote.”

With temperatures expected to reach 30 deg. Celsius by 1pm, with some voters raised concerns about the lack of shelter in open spaces for queues.

Voter and mother Asinate Colovanua said even although Fijians were used to the heat, there could have been provisions for water and shelter, especially for the older citizens waiting in line.

Elderly voters were eventually offered shelter in air-conditioned cars as they waited their turn to vote at the polling station.

Meanwhile, Saneem reminded Fijian Elections Office staff to refrain from introducing entry requirements for polling agents.

“There were a few issues from the field in relation to candidate agents. I’d like to clarify to FEO staff, you have to let polling agents in. There is no requirement to have their agent appointment forms stamped, do not introduce this as a requirement,” he said.

The 2022 General Election is the third post-2006 coup election and is set to be significant for cementing democracy. The number of registered voters exceeds both the 2018 and 2014 elections.

As many as 606,092 Fijians are expected to cast their votes at 855 venues today.

Fiji’s 2022 General Election will close after the last voter in the queue at 6pm has voted. The commencement of counting is expected to start thereafter with provisional results to be announced by 8pm.

Published in collaboration with the University of the South Pacific journalism programme’s Wansolwara News.

By Ioane Asioli, Cooper Williams and Geraldine Panapasa of Wansolwara in Suva

Scores of people along the Nasinu-Suva corridor lined the premises of their designated polling stations as early as 6am today to cast their votes in the Fiji 2022 general election.

While polling venues opened at 7.30am, the light morning drizzle did little to deter voters from exercising their democratic right to vote.

As many as 693,915 Fijians have registered to vote in this year’s election, majority of voters are expected from the Central Division — 9916 had applied for postal ballot, while 77,907 Fijians registered to vote for pre-polling.

• READ MORE:  Fijians heading to the polls today for third post-coup election
• Other Fiji elections reports
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At 7.15am, accredited media participated in a walk-through to take photos and videos at the Suva Grammar School polling station before the first vote was cast at 7.30am.

Last night, Supervisor of Election Mohammed Saneem urged employers to allow their employees to take at least half a day or the morning session to cast their vote after receiving concerns were raised by some employees that their employers were given them ultimatums to either turn up to work at 9am or ‘face the axe’.

“It is not proper for any employer to force their employees to come to work without having voted. Is not only unjust, but it is unconstitutional.

“I cannot apply Section 141 in this circumstance… I would like to invite every single employer in this country to consider Section 23 (2) of the Constitution which reads, ‘Every citizen has the right to free, fair and regular elections for any elective institution or office established under this Constitution’.

“The Constitution does not make any allowance for any person to make law that will prohibit a person from voting. This means that neither Parliament nor an employer has the authority to stop a person from voting. They must allow their employees to vote,” Saneem said.

Voting time for employees
The Fijian Elections Office, he said, had been advocating for employers to allow employees to vote and then report to work.

He said the FEO would not hesitate to take people to court if necessary, if they did not allow employees to vote in the morning, or during the day.

“Employers must immediately rectify all their plans and allow voters to go and vote. Two hours is not enough, you must allow them enough time, that means half the day,” Mr Saneem said.

The 2022 general elections would be Fiji’s third elections under the new electoral system, which features the Open List PR system established through provisions of the 2013 Constitution, and Electoral Act 2014.

Today, 606,092 Fijians will cast their votes at 855 venues. Fiji’s 2022 General Election will close after the last voter in the queue at 6pm has voted. The commencement of counting is expected to start thereafter with provisional results to be announced by 8pm.

Published in collaboration with the University of the South Pacific journalism programme’s Wansolwara News.

More than 606,000 Fijians are expected to head to the polls today to elect a new Parliament for a four-year term.

This is the country’s third election under the 2013 constitution and since the 2006 military coup.

In the race are 343 candidates from nine political parties and two independents vying for a seat in the 55-member Parliament.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji elections reports
• Wansolwara elections coverage

Voting is taking place at 855 polling stations from 7.30am to 6pm Fiji time, or until after the last voter in the queue at 6pm has voted.

The Fijian Elections Office has announced that all voters will be provided free transport today.

Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem said a call centre had been set up for voters — it will be staffed by 40 personnel and operate between 7.30am and 6pm.

“There are 16 venues around the country that are not voting at the location we had previously advertised for various reasons, please take note of the new locations, we will be putting up big sign boards outside these venues. So it will direct you to the new location anyway,” Saneem said.

“We will also upload the the maps to the new places so that you are able to locate it in case you are trying to find out it will be available on the FTO Facebook page,” he said.

90 observers
More than 90 observers from 16 countries and two regional organisations — the Pacific Islands Forum and the Melanesian Spearhead Group — will monitor polling, counting and tallying of the ballots.

In the lead-up to the election, the Multinational Observer Group (MOG) observed no irregularities.

The MOG said there were no significant issues that would prevent registered voters from casting their ballot during pre-polling, postal voting or on election day.

“I would like to acknowledge the statement received released by the multinational observer group in relation to tomorrow’s [Wednesday’s] election. And we look forward to the entire country [which] has waited for the last four years for this very important day,” Saneem said.

“Remember, decisions are made by those who turn up. If you do not turn up, do not complain. So ladies and gentlemen, from tomorrow [Wednesday], we’ll see you at 7.30am at any of our 1600 polling stations. Mark your ballot papers correctly and have your vote counted,” he said.

A total of 77,907 Fijians were registered to vote for pre-polling over the last week.

However, only 54,244 Fijians cast their votes.

Weather on voting day
Fiji is well into the cyclone season and as it has been raining heavily for periods over the weekend, it could affect voter turnout.

The 2018 election was heavily impacted by bad weather and Saneem said they were planning for the worst but hoping for the best.

• The blackout on campaigning, political advertising and media reporting of political issues, which started at midnight Fiji time on Sunday, will be lifted at the close of polling at 6pm today.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

Observers of the Fiji election have been briefed by the Supervisor of Elections ahead of polling, which begins tomorrow.

Mohammed Saneem took the observers through a comprehensive presentation on the elections process as well as the preparations of the Fijian Elections Office leading up to the issue of writs in late October.

Saneem said the observers will be deployed from today to various parts of the country where they will be observing electoral processes on the day of polling.

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He said it was appropriate to introduce the observers to the election so that they have contextual knowledge, cultural familiarity and understanding of election processes as well as the efforts undertaken in the preparation.

The Fijian Elections Office accredited 97 observers from 16 countries, including two regional organisations.

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said the Multinational Observer Group was an important initiative to support the people of Fiji and the international community to have confidence in the election outcome.

Fire damages polling venue
Saneem said his office would release information tonight on alternative voting arrangements for voters registered to cast their ballot at the Vatuwaqa Primary School in Suva.

Yesterday morning, a major fire broke out at the school which is one of 855 election day polling venues.

Despite polling due to begin tomorrow, Saneem said there was no need to panic.

“We are going to try and have it ready for you by tonight so that information can be published for tomorrow,” he said.

“There is no need to panic, we will be making alternative arrangements with suitable locations so that voters are still able to go and vote without any disruption.”

The FEO reports that 1448 voters are registered to vote at the venue.

More than 300 candidates are standing for seats in the 51-member Parliament.

• There is a media blackout in Fiji for two days prior to the polling.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem has issued a legal direction to The Fiji Times to remove an article which he said misquoted him.

Saneem objected to the headline of the article, which read: “Saneem: I will not apologise.”

Unity Fiji party candidate Riaz Mohammed had demanded that Saneem apologise for initially rejecting his nomination on the grounds of an alleged criminal conviction.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji elections reports

In response, Saneem, declining to apologise, said that if Mohammed wanted an apology “that means we have some malice, there is no malice in this”.

Saneem issued a legal notice to The Fiji Times yesterday under section 144A of the Electoral Act, directing the removal of the online article.

In a separate letter to The Fiji Times, Saneem said he “did not make the statement as quoted in your headline”.

“The headline is clearly misleading and also appears to be fabricated by Fiji Times,” Saneem said.

“If the same is your own views, then you should correctly identify it to yourself and not the SOE.”

Fiji Times disagrees
Section 144A, giving the power to the Supervisor to remove or correct “false statements” was enacted by Parliament last year.

Fiji Times editor-in-chief Fred Wesley replied it was not necessary for the Elections Supervisor to serve legal notices on the newspaper every time he wanted a correction to a news story.

Wesley said he did not agree that The Fiji Times had breached the law but was prepared to remove the article as directed because “it was not an article of great importance”.

Felix Chaudhary is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

FijiFirst party general secretary Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum claims they are fighting The Fiji Times and Communications Fiji Ltd — not political parties — in the lead up to the 2022 general election.

He said this while taking a swipe at The Times during a news conference this week at the FijiFirst party headquarters in Suva.

Sayed-Khaiyum claimed the two media organisations were “always parroting” the People’s Alliance and the National Federation Party “without checking the facts”.

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“We are not fighting other political parties, we are fighting two mainstream media organisations — Fiji Times and CFL,” he said.

“The Fijian public know that. This is why we have our live Facebook when we have conferences, because we don’t expect these people to do any justification in terms of what we are saying.

“I urge you if you are serious about your profession and the organisation you work for, are independent, not just say ‘independent’.

“The saying goes [that] the proof is in the eating of the pudding.

“We have a seen a continuous propagation by Fiji Times and by CFL, simply parroting whatever the PAP and NFP says without checking the facts; we have a very sad state of affairs today.”

Sayed-Khaiyum cited as an example that when NFP reported the FijiFirst party to the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption about placing a banner on the Civic Car Park, The Fiji Times continued to publish commentary from NFP general secretary Seni Nabou.

“They have absolutely no idea of what due process means, they have absolutely no idea, neither Fiji Times nor does CFL have any idea what an independent process means.

“They throw these words around, bending these words around, yet not understanding what [they] mean.”

Fiji Times editor-in-chief Fred Wesley responded that The Fiji Times was being attacked — “as usual” — for doing its job.

“We strive for fair and balanced coverage of the news, especially now as political parties go into election mode,” he said.

“Understandably the pressure is on the government to respond to statements by opposition parties. We offer them a platform to clarify issues and to make statements.

We refer all opposition party criticism to the government for comment. The government rarely, if ever, replies.

“We are not here to make the government look good. We offer a platform for every party to voice their opinions. Some choose to use it and some do not.”

Arieta Vakasukawaqa is a Fiji Times reporter. Published with permission.

In Fiji’s politically charged context, national elections are historically a risky period. Since the 2022 campaign period was declared open on April 26, the intensity has been increasing.

Moreover, with three governments toppled by coups after the 1987, 1999 and 2006 elections, concerns about a smooth transfer of power are part of the national conversation.

The frontrunners in the election, which must be held by January 2023 but is likely to be held later this year, are two former military strongmen — Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.

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Both men have been involved in Fijian coups in the past.  Rabuka took power through the 1987 coups in the name of Indigenous self-determination. He became the elected prime minister in 1992 but lost power in 1999 after forming a coalition with a largely Indo–Fijian party.

Bainimarama staged his 2006 coup in the name of good governance, multiracialism and eradicating corruption, before restoring electoral democracy and winning elections under the FijiFirst (FF) party banner in 2014 and 2018.

FijiFirst was formed by the leaders and supporters of the 2006 coup during the transition back to democratic government via the 2014 election. Many of the FF leaders were part of the post-coup interim government that created the 2013 constitution, which delivered substantial changes to Fiji’s electoral system.

These changes included the elimination of seats reserved for specific ethnicities, replaced by a single multi-member constituency covering the whole country, and the creation of a single national electoral roll. Seat distribution is proportional, meaning each of the eight competing parties will need to get five percent of the vote to win one of the 55 seats up for grabs this year.

Popularity a key factor
As votes for a particular candidate are distributed to those lower down their parties’ ticket once they cross the five percent threshold, the popularity of single candidates can make or break a party’s electoral hopes.

For example, Bainimarama individually garnered 69 percent of FF’s total votes in 2014 and 73.81 percent in 2018, demonstrating the extent to which his party’s fortunes rest on his personal brand.

This will be crucial as FF’s majority rests on a razor thin margin, having won in 2018 with only 50.02 percent of the vote, compared to its 59.14 percent in 2014.

As for his major rival Rabuka, following his split with the major Indigenous Fijian party, Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA), he formed and now heads the People’s Alliance Party (PAP).

The split came after Rabuka lost a leadership tussle with SODELPA stalwart Viliame Gavoka. Rabuka’s departure is seen as a setback for SODELPA, given that he attracted 77,040, or 42.55 percent, of the total SODELPA votes in 2018.

When it comes to issues, the state of the economy, including cost of living and national debt, are expected to be at the top of most voters’ minds. Covid-19 brought a sudden halt to tourism — which before the pandemic made up 39 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) — putting 115,000 people out of work.

As a result, the government borrowed heavily during this period, which according to the Ministry of Economy saw the “debt-to-GDP ratio increase to over 80 percent at the end of March 2022 compared to around 48 per cent pre-pandemic”.

Poverty ‘undercounted’
The government stated that it borrowed to prevent economic collapse, while the opposition accused it of reckless spending. The World Bank put the poverty level at 24.1 percent in April 2022, but opposition politicians have claimed this is an undercount.

For example, the leader of the National Federation Party (NFP) Professor Biman Prasad has claimed the real level of unemployment is more than 50 percent.

Adding to this pressure is inflation, which reached 4.7 percent in April — up from 1.9 percent in February — and while the government blames price increases in wheat, fuel, and other staples on the war in Ukraine, the opposition attributes it to poor economic fundamentals.

Another factor which could define the election outcome was the pre-election announcement of a coalition between the PAP and NFP. By combining the two largest opposition parties, there is clearly a hope to form a viable multiethnic alternative to FF.

This strategy, however, is not without risks in the country’s complex political milieu. In the 1999 election, the coalition between Rabuka’s ruling Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei Party and NFP failed when Rabuka’s 1987 coup history was highlighted during campaigning.

This saw NFP’s Fijian supporters of Indian descent desert the party.

Whether history will repeat itself is one of the intriguing questions in this election. According to some estimates, FF received 71 percent of Indo-Fijian votes in 2014, and capturing this support base is crucial for the opposition’s chances.

Transfer of power concerns
Against the background of pressing economic and social issues loom concerns about a smooth transfer of power. Besides Fiji’s coup culture, such anxieties are fuelled by a constitutional provision seen to give the military carte blanche to intervene in national politics.

Section 131(2) of the 2013 Fijian constitution states: ‘It shall be the overall responsibility of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces to ensure at all times the security, defence and well-being of Fiji and all Fijians’.

This has concerned many opposition leaders, such as NFP president Pio Tikoduadua, who has called for the country to rethink how this aspect of the constitution should be understood.

These concerns are likely to increase by the prospect of a close or hung election. As demonstrated after last year’s Samoan general election, the risk of a protracted dispute over the results could have adverse implications for a stable outcome.

As such, it is essential that all candidates immediately commit to respect the final result of the election whatever it may be and lay the foundations for a peaceful transition of power. In the longer-term interest, however, it will be necessary for Fiji to clarify the potential domestic power of the military implied by the constitution to put all undue speculation to rest. 

Dr Shailendra Singh is coordinator of the University of the South Pacific journalism programme. This article is based on a paper published by ANU Department of Pacific Affairs (DPA) as part of its “In brief” series. The original paper can be found here. It was first published at Policy Forum, Asia and the Pacific’s platform for public policy analysis and opinion. Republished with the permission of the author.

Addressing the training development deficit in the Fiji media industry can stem journalist attrition and improve coverage of election reporting in the country, says University of the South Pacific journalism coordinator Dr Shailendra Singh.

Speaking during last week’s launch of the National Media Reporting of the 2018 Fijian General Elections study in Suva, Dr Singh said media watch groups regarded Fiji’s controversial media law as having a “chilling effect on journalism” and “fostered a culture of media self-censorship”.

Dr Singh, who co-authored the report with Dialogue Fiji executive director Nilesh Lal, said scrapping or reforming the 2010 Media Industry Development Authority Act was crucial to “professionalising journalism”.

• READ MORE: Scrap or reform Fiji’s media law, says new elections report
• Other Fiji media reports

“The Act does nothing for training and development or journalist attrition. In fact, the Act may have exacerbated attrition,” he said.

This situation, Dr Singh said, highlighted the importance of training and development and staff retention, which were longstanding structural problems in Fiji and Pacific media.

“This underlines the role of financial viability and newsroom professional capacity in news coverage.”

He said two core media responsibilities in elections were creating a level playing field and acting as a public watchdog.

“It seems doubtful that these functions were adequately fulfilled by all media during reporting of the 2018 Fijian general elections.”

Advertising spread
Dr Singh said the research also recommended the even distribution of state advertising among media organisations as well as the allocation of public service broadcasting grants fairly among broadcasters to minimise financial incentives to report overly positively on any government.

According to the report, the FijiFirst Party received the most media coverage during the 2018 Fiji general elections and this was expected given its ruling party status.

However, variance in coverage tone and quantity appeared too high.

“The largely positive coverage of the ruling FijiFirst party could be deemed irregular. It questions certain media’s ability to hold power to account,” Dr Singh said.

“Under a stronger watchdog mandate, ruling parties face greater scrutiny, especially in election time. Instead, media coverage put challenger parties more on the defensive which is curious.”

He said challenger parties were forced to respond to allegations in news stories and were grilled more than the incumbent during debates.

“It should be other way around. In such situations the natural conclusion is journalist bias but only to a certain extent,” he said.

Direct political alignment
While the report found that certain media outlets in Fiji seemed to privilege some political parties and issues over others, distinguished political sociologist and Pacific scholar Professor Steven Ratuva said this could be due to several reasons such as direct political and ideological alignment of the media company to a political party or conscious and subconscious bias of journalists and editors.

“Bias is part of human consciousness and sometimes it is explicit and sometimes it is implicit and unconscious. This deeper sociological exploration is beyond the mandate of this report,” Professor Ratuva said in the foreword to the report.

“Election stories sell, especially when spiced with intrigue, scandals, mysteries, conspiracies and warring narratives.

“The more sensational the story the more sellable it is. The media can feed into election frenzies, inflame passion and at times encourage boisterous political behaviour and prejudice which can be socially destructive.

“The media can also be used as a means of sensible, intellectual and calm engagement to enlighten the ignorant and unite people across cultures, religions and political ideologies.”

He said keeping an eye on what the media did required an open, analytical and independent approach and this was what the report attempted to do.

Research findings
The research found that after FijiFirst, the larger and more established opposition parties SODELPA and NFP, were next in terms of the quantity of coverage, but were more likely to receive a lesser amount of positive coverage and at times found themselves on the defensive in responding to FijiFirst allegations, rather than being principles in the stories.

The smaller, newer parties had to content themselves with marginal news attention and this was generally consistent across four of the five national media that were surveyed — the Fiji Sun, FBC (TV and radio), Fiji Television Limited and Fiji Village.

“The only exception was The Fiji Times, whose coverage could be deemed to be comparatively less approving of the ruling party and also less critical of the challenger parties,” the report found.

“Besides comparatively extensive and favourable coverage in the Fiji Sun, FijiFirst made more appearances on the major national television stations, FBC and Fiji One, as well as on the CFL radio stations and news website.”

The report noted that even in special information programmes where news media allowed candidates extended time/space to have their say, the FijiFirst representatives enjoyed a distinct advantage over their opposition counterparts in the two national debates, with regards to the number of questions asked, the nature of the questions, and the opportunity to respond.

“When the two major opposition parties were in the media, it was often in order to respond to allegations by the ruling party, or to defend themselves against negative questions,” the report noted.

“The results could explain why the government accuses The Fiji Times of anti-government bias, and the opposition blame the Fiji Sun and FBC TV of favouring the government.”

However, there were other factors other than media/journalist bias that could be attributed to the lack of critical reporting.

“These could range from the news organisation’s and/or newsroom’s partiality towards the ruling party politicians and its policies. The reporting could also be affected by the inexperience in the national journalists corps to report the elections in a critical manner.”

This observation, the report highlighted, was supported by “issues balance” results indicating that key national issues, such as the economy, were understated.

The focus was instead on election processes, procedures and conduct. Another factor in the reporting could be news media’s financial links to the government.

Election reporting
As Fiji prepares for its next general election, Dialogue Fiji’s Nilesh Lal said it was important to put the spotlight on factors that impinged on an even electoral playing field.

“Given the importance of news media in disseminating electoral information and shaping public opinion, it can profoundly influence electoral outcomes, and therefore needs to come under scrutiny,” he said.

“There may also be imperatives to consider safeguards against the negative impacts of unequal coverage of electoral contestants through legislating as other countries, like the US, for instance, have done.

“Alternatively, media organisations can self-regulate by instituting internal guidelines for election reporting. A good example is the BBC’s Guidelines on election coverage. Another alternate could be the formation of an independent commission/committee made up of media organisation representatives and political parties representatives that can set rules and quotas for election coverage.

“For example, in the UK, a committee of broadcasters and political parties reviews the formula for allocation of broadcasting time, at every election.”

Lal said the purpose of the report was not to accuse any media organisation of having biases but rather to show that inequitable coverage of electoral contestants was a problem in Fiji that required redress at some level if “we are sincere about improving the quality of democracy in Fiji”.

He said the co-authors hoped the report would initiate some much-needed public discourse on the issue of equitable coverage of elections by media organisations.

Wansolwara is the student journalist newspaper of the University of the South Pacific. It collaborates with Asia Pacific Report, which prioritises student journalism.