The odds appear to be in favour of Fiji’s incumbent Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama, as early projections (based on provisional counts) place his FijiFirst party in the lead, despite the delays experienced due to bad weather.
Ascending to power following a bloodless coup in the Oceanian nation in 2006, Bainimarama has had the country’s top job for 12 years so far. This followed his resignation from the military and his becoming Prime Minister in 2014 by a landslide victory at the polls.
According the Fiji Elections Office (FEO) website, over 500,000 Fijians went to the polls, facing heavy rains and flooding which displaced approximately 8,000 voters, causing some centres to reschedule voting.
Following the events of the election day, results posted on the Fijian government’s official Twitter page show Bainimarama’s FijiFirst party in the lead with 52% of the already counted 367,350 votes.
Trailing behind Bainimarama with 38% of the votes is Sitiveni Rabuka, leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party of Fiji (SODELPA). The former Prime Minister and coup leader serves as the main opponent in this year’s election.
However, voting is far from over as polling booths affected by the weather have had to postpone their elections to the 17th of November as announced by Mohammed Saneem, Supervisor of the Elections.
After suffering diplomatic isolation from the international economy after the country’s 2006 coup, the island and Bainimarama gained the goodwill of the international community after 2014’s polls, with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex Prince Harry and Princess Meghan, paying a visit this past October.
Final results will be announced after total collation on the 18th of November.
