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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• Fiji elections media blackout
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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. 

Eight policemen attached to Mt Hagen police division have been identified as suspects in an election-related shooting that resulted in four people killed and several others wounded on 6 August 2022.

The shooting took place in Anglimp-South Waghi electorate in Jiwaka province and investigations were completed last week.

The alleged shooting caught international media and election observers criticism, triggering the investigation.

• READ MORE: Other reports on the PNG election violence

Crimes division director Chief Inspector Joel Simatab said that primary reports — including the autopsy, post-mortems, eye witness statements and other evidence — had been compiled.

He said the public must be aware that investigations had been completed.

International observers’ ‘lot of noise’
“At that time we had international observers in the country who made a lot of noise about the security forces involved in the killing,” he said.

“And we responded, sending our detectives — two from NCD [National Capital District] and four from the Highlands region — who carried out the investigations,” he said.

“We want to give assurance that we have done our independent investigations and [are] now working with the Coroner’s office, going through their process to serve [the suspects] to come and give their side of the story before arrests are made.”

It was alleged that youths from the area blocked off the highway over frustrations over how elections were being conducted, which resulted in police shooting at them.

Marjorie Finkeo is a PNG Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission.

Forty nine regional and international observers have arrived in Vanuatu to monitor the running of the country’s snap election tomorrow.

The election was triggered after the dissolution of the country’s Parliament on August 19 by President Nikenike Vurobaravu, and on the eve of a motion of no-confidence against the now caretaker prime minister Bob Loughman.

More than 300,000 people are expected to cast their vote in the snap election.

• READ MORE: Other Vanuatu election reports

The Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Edward Kaltamat, has confirmed observers from Australia, China, Fiji, France, Kiribati, Melanesian Spearhead Group Secretariat, New Zealand, Pacific Islands Forum, United Kingdom and the United Nations are in the country.

Kaltamat said their presence will provide confidence to the voters on the transparency and credibility of the election.

The 49 observers have signed their code of conduct to guide them while they are in the field.

Kaltamat said some of them would stay in the capital to monitor the elections in Port Vila and the Efate constituency, and some would be deployed in the islands.

He said the observers will be briefed before being sent to the islands by aircraft.

This is not the first time that international observers have monitored an election in Vanuatu.

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

By the EMTV News elections coverage team

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has finally cast his vote in the general election.

O’Neill voted in his local village, Kauwo, in Pangia Southern Highlands province yesterday, reports EMTV’s Theckla Gunga.

Before polling began, the community had a church service.

Polling for Ialibu-Pangia was deferred for two days following complaints and a petition by candidates over missing ballot papers and appointment of presiding officers among other concerns.

Earlier, after Friday’s polling hold-up in the Southern Highlands, O’Neill called for election delays to be put into perspective.

He claimed the 2017 elections had been a dramatic change from the previous three elections where there was violence and the electoral process had been “hijacked”.

Speaking from Mendi, the incumbent Prime Minister said voting in his province had been delayed, but it is better to wait and ensure the process was run properly.

‘Understand the hardship’
“While the delay is disappointing, we understand the hardship and the difficulties that election officials are going through,” O’Neill said.

“Putting this in perspective, I hear comment from election observers that delays like this are common in developing country elections, particularly with remote and rugged terrain and diverse cultures.”

The Prime Minister said the leaders he had spoken with were pleased with the manner in which the election was taking place and the public’s reception to the election process.

“Unlike previous elections, there is relative calm in this province and other provinces,” O’Neill said.

He said there had been very good campaigning conducted in Southern Highlands province, and around the region.

“This was not the experience of 2002, 2007 and 2012 where certain candidates hijacked the election process.

“People must not forget the failures and hardship or previous elections.

“In 2002, in Southern Highlands and Hela provinces, there were seven failed elections.”

EMTV News stories are republished with permission.

• More PNG election stories