Suva: No political party has secured more than 50 per cent of the total votes in Fiji’s 2022 general elections, indicating that country will have a coalition government.
According to the Fijian Elections Office which announced the final results of the election on Sunday afternoon, a total of 473,910 votes were cast in this year’s general elections which had a total number of 693,915 registered voters. The country recorded 68.3 per cent turnout in Wednesday’s election, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The FijiFirst Party (FFP) led by Voreqe Bainimarama finished with 200,246 votes, 42.55 per cent of the votes counted. This means the FFP can secure 26 seats in the 55-member parliament.
The People’s Alliance (PA) led by Sitiveni Rabuka is in second place with 168,581 votes, 35.82 per cent of the votes, giving the PA 21 seats. The National Federation Party (NFP) led by Biman Prasad is in third place with 41,830 votes which is 8.89 per cent of the votes counted. This means the party can secure five seats.
The Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) led by Viliame Gavoka has 24,172 votes which is 5.14 per cent of the votes counted. The party can have three seats.
Under the electoral system, the parties that qualify to be in the Fijian parliament need to receive at least 5 percent of the total votes in the elections.
A party can form the government if they win 28 seats or more.
The FFP has been in power since 2014 after winning the two general elections, but this is the first time that the party has failed to secure the majority of seats to rule in the parliament. Now, the party needs to find one of the opposition parties to form a coalition government for the next four years.
The PA and the NFP have formed a pre-election coalition, so the only opposition party that is possible to cooperate with the FFP is the SODELPA, but the party said later Sunday that its final decision on which party they will form a coalition with will be decided by its executive board and will not rush into any decision.
The Electoral Commission Fiji has confirmed that the Fijian Elections Office has officially handed over the final national result tally for the 2022 General Election to it Sunday afternoon.
Electoral Commission Chairperson Mukesh Nand said that the general election was held in a peaceful and conducive environment.
He added that they intend to announce the final list of candidates that will enter the Fijian parliament Monday afternoon.
Fiji, an island nation with a population of around 900,000, held its last general elections in 2018.
–IANS