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General elections were held in
Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
on 17 September 2014 to select the 50 members of
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
."PM Bainimarama – A Strategic Framework for Change"
, Fiji government website, 1 July 2009
The FijiFirst party, led by
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Frank Bainimarama, won a
landslide victory A landslide victory is an election result in which the winning Candidate#Candidates in elections, candidate or political party, party achieves a decisive victory by an overwhelming margin, securing a very large majority of votes or seats far beyo ...
, winning 32 of the 50 seats. The Social Democratic Liberal Party and the
National Federation Party The National Federation Party ( Fiji Hindi: नेशनल फेडरेशन पार्टी; Fijian: ''Mataisoqosoqo ni National Federation'') is a Fijian political party founded by A. D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Fe ...
were the only other two parties to cross the 5% electoral threshold and win seats. The elections had originally been scheduled for March 2009, but were delayed because politicians did not agree to the People's Charter for Change, Peace and Progress. Between 2009 and 2014 several public announcements and requests were made for elections, and on 23 March 2014 the interim government announced the elections would be held on 17 September 2014. The elections were to be held under the new constitution which lowered the voting age to 18 and gave the right of
multiple citizenship Multiple citizenship (or multiple nationality) is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one sovereign state, country under its nationality law, nationality and citizenship law as a national or cit ...
to Fijians for the first time.


Background

After the Fijian military coup of 5 December 2006, the new interim
prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Jona Senilagakali announced that elections would take place held "hopefully in 12 months, two years". Later the military regime made it clear that none of the ministers in the interim government would be allowed to contest the elections. On 6 January 2007 Commodore Frank Bainimarama, the leader of the coup, succeeded Senilagakali as interim Prime Minister. On 29 January 2007, Bainimarama announced that the next election would be around five years away. He informed a visiting regional delegation on 30–31 January that elections would have to wait until a
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
had been completed, a new voters' roll compiled, and boundaries of electoral districts defined. Meanwhile, interim
Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum suggested using
electronic voting Electronic voting is voting that uses electronic means to either aid or handle casting and counting ballots including voting time. Depending on the particular implementation, e-voting may use standalone '' electronic voting machines'' (also ...
to shorten the period of time for counting votes (previously over ten days), and thereby reduce the potential for election rigging. Later, Bainimarama announced changes to the electoral system that would abolish the race-based constituencies and that elections would take place in 2010. It was later clarified that the interim administration has no mandate for electoral and constitutional reform, as such changes have to go through the parliamentary process; as such, the proposed 2010 election would take place under the current race-based system, but Bainimarama stated he wished the next government to change the electoral system. In mid-June 2007, Bainimarama gave in to demands from the European Union, Australia and New Zealand to hold polls by 28 February 2009; he also requested assistance with election preparations. The deposed Prime Minister,
Laisenia Qarase Laisenia Qarase (pronounced ; 4 February 1941 – 21 April 2020) was a Fijian politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Fiji, sixth Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. After Republic of Fiji Military Forces, the military quashed the 2 ...
, stated he would contest the elections. By contrast, Bainimarama said that he had no intention of taking part in the election. In March 2008, responding to regional pressure for concrete evidence of his commitment to hold elections in 2009, Bainimarama argued: :"Elections are central to democracy but they are not always, on their own, a magic or quick-fix solution. How can an election, on its own, make a difference when it is based on divisive and race based communal electoral arrangements? How can an election, on its own, solve the deep differences that our constitution has perpetuated between the different races in our country? Unless there are fundamental reforms, how can an election succeed where it will take us straight back to the grimy old politics of self interest, cronyism and scam mongering?" In April 2008, Finance Minister Mahendra Chaudhry stated that it was necessary to complete and implement the People's Charter for Change and Progress before holding any elections. In May, Commodore Bainimarama said that elections would not take place in March 2009 unless politicians agreed to the Charter. Ousted
Vice-President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
Ratu ''Ratu'' () is an Austronesian title used by male Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, ''adi'' (pronounced ), is used by females of chiefly rank. In the Malay language, the title ''ratu'' is also the traditional honorific title to r ...
Joni Madraiwiwi remarked that the next election would likely be won by "a Fijian-dominated political party" ( meaning indigenous-dominated), and asked what the military would do in such a case. Bainimarama stated that Qarase's
Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua The United Fiji Party (, , SDL) was a list of political parties in Fiji, political party in Fiji. It was founded in 2001 by Prime Minister of Fiji, Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase as a power base; it absorbed most of the Christian Democratic Alli ...
party would be authorised to take part in the election, but that, if elected, Qarase would have to abide by the People's Charter. He would not be authorised to introduce or re-introduce policies – such as the Reconciliation, Tolerance and Unity Bill- which Bainimarama perceived to be racist. Bainimarama warned Qarase publicly that doing so would result in a new coup: "If you do it, I'll remove you." In March 2010, however, Bainimarama stated that "any politician who has played a role in the country's politics, since 1987" would be prevented from standing for election. The rationale was that "Fiji needs new politicians". The Charter would serve as a guideline in this respect.
Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum stated that "the People's Charter sets a trend or course for which the people of Fiji should actually assess political parties on and political parties that are essentially try icto contest elections purely based on ethnic politics would not be entertained by the people of Fiji". Despite his earlier commitment not to run, Bainimarama founded and led the Fiji First party into the election. Mahendra Chaudhry was ruled to be ineligible to stand for election.


Date

In April 2009 the Fijian government announced that elections would take place "by September 2014". Bainimarama reiterated this in July, specifying that the elections would be held under the provisions of a new
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
, which would eliminate institutionalised ethnic-based voting. The new Constitution might also amend the number of seats in Parliament, and possibly abolish the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. In February 2010 a petition, reportedly supported by 600,000 signatories, requested elections by the end of the year. Commodore Bainimarama responded that an early election would not be "practical and realistic": "The implementation of the fundamental changes and reforms captured in the People's Charter and which are now being implemented under the framework of the Roadmap – this is the only plan – or priority for Fiji. It is a plan that is objective of a better Fiji – where all benefit and not just the elite few – as has been the case previously." He dismissed what he called "irresponsible demands and proposals of selfish individuals and groups that run counter to the Charter and the road-map". In March 2011 the New Zealand Foreign Minister
Murray McCully Murray Stuart McCully (born 19 February 1953) is a New Zealand former politician. He is a member of the National Party, and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2017. Early life Born in Whangārei, McCully was educated at Arap ...
announced that New Zealand would lift its travel ban on members of the Fiji administration if the government committed to holding elections in 2014, and allowing "all stakeholders ..to participate and not only those favoured by the regime". (Until then, New Zealand had insisted on earlier elections.) Fiji Foreign Affairs Minister
Ratu ''Ratu'' () is an Austronesian title used by male Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, ''adi'' (pronounced ), is used by females of chiefly rank. In the Malay language, the title ''ratu'' is also the traditional honorific title to r ...
Inoke Kubuabola replied that the Fiji government was "committed to ensuring that a good and fair election is conducted" in 2014. On 30 June 2012 voter registration for the 2014 elections began in Suva. A few days later a Western diplomat confirmed that Fiji was on-schedule for elections in 2014: "It seems fairly clear now that there will be elections of some description in Fiji in 2014. The real question is the extent to which those elections meet minimal international standards for being free and fair. Crucial to answering that question is seeing whether everyone is allowed to compete, and the media and civil society are able to operate in a minimally unimpeded manner." Finally, on 23 March 2014, the Fiji government announced that the elections would take place on 17 September of that year, a day to be declared a national holiday. A media blackout on campaign activities ran from Monday to Wednesday, the election day. The ban included newspapers, radio, television, campaign poster and social media posts by any Fijian.


Electoral system

The elections were held using the
open list Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a Political party, party's candidates are elected. This is as opposed to closed list, in which party lists ...
form of
party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a system of proportional representation based on preregistered Political party, political parties, with each party being Apportionment (politics), allocated a certain number of seats Apportionm ...
using the
D'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is an apportionment method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in proportional representation among political parties. It belongs to ...
in one nationwide constituency consisting of 50 seats. There is a threshold of 5% of the vote for a list to gain representation. Pre-polling for the elections began two weeks prior to the main election date to cater for those unable to travel long distances to cast their vote. It ended on 15 September. A 48-hour blackout period began soon after, during which no media, including print or social, is allowed to print or post any election material which insinuates campaigning. Almost 590,000 citizens registered to vote in the elections. 57,084 voters were registered to vote in
Lautoka Lautoka (, ) is the second largest List of cities and towns in Fiji#List, metropolitan area in Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Ba Province of the Western Division, Fiji, Western Division. Lying in the heart of ...
at 141 polling stations.


Campaign

Seven parties registered to contest the elections, with a total of 248 candidates nominated, of which two were independents.


Opinion polls


Approval ratings


Satisfaction of Frank Bainimarama as Prime Minister


Preferred prime minister


Voting intention


Results


By division


Aftermath

The election was endorsed as "credible" by international observers, including by
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
and
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. Some shortcomings were however noted, such as a restrictive media framework which limited Fijian journalists' ability to "examine rigorously the claims of candidates and parties", a short timeframe for the election and a complex voting system. Leaders of several of the opposition parties protested the result, claiming ballot tampering.


See also

* List of members of the Parliament of Fiji (2014–2018)


Notes


References

{{Fijian elections
Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
Elections in Fiji
General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...