Posted
Legislative in FijiThe results are tightening, an opponent heard by the police
While the gap between the two favorite parties in the legislative elections held this week in Fiji is narrowing, one of the candidates has been summoned by the police.
From left to right: Savenaca Narube, Sitiveni Rabuka and Biman Prasad. The three leaders of the main parties at a joint press conference this Saturday, December 17.
AFP
The gap between the two main parties narrowed on Saturday in Fiji, following a tumultuous night during which one of the candidates for the post of prime minister in the framework of these legislative elections was summoned by the police.
Sitiveni Rabuka, the 74-year-old former head of government, twice putschist, is contesting the post of prime minister with incumbent Frank Bainimarama, also a former military leader, who rose to power in a putsch a few years ago. sixteen years.
Members of the opposition, led by Sitiveni Rabuka, fear that a first vote count was disrupted by problems overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, which blocked the display of results for four hours. The coalition led by his party, the People’s Alliance, won 44% of the vote on Saturday morning once morest 42% for the formation of Frank Bainimarama, Fiji first. Almost half of the 2071 polling stations had then transmitted their results. The final verdict is expected on Sunday.
Frank Bainimarama has remained silent since the launch of the ballot on Wednesday, unlike his main rival who complained of “anomalies”. “In view of the material counting violation, we demand an immediate halt to the ongoing electoral process and its replacement with a new manual counting of all votes,” Sitiveni Rabuka told the country’s Election Supervisory Authority in a letter written on Thursday and published on Saturday. Rabuka unsuccessfully called on Friday for the intervention of the army, which has a “general” constitutional responsibility to maintain stability.
Police mobilized overnight
As a result, he was summoned by the police in the evening along with his party’s general secretary Sakiasi Ditoka. No indication was provided of any charges once morest them. “This way the government is doing, we are talking regarding a climate of fear. That’s how they instill fear,” Sitiveni Rabuka told AFP later, saying the move was a government intimidation strategy.
Police were mobilized overnight and roadblocks set up. Nearly a hundred international observers monitored the election and found no significant problems. Malfunctions have indeed affected the vote count display application but they do not mean that the counting system itself has been corrupted, is explained in their report.
This vote is perceived as a test for the young and fragile Fijian democracy and has a significant international dimension: Frank Bainimarama is rather close to Beijing, while Sitiveni Rabuka would like to move away from it. Four prime ministers have been overthrown in coups over the past 35 years, some of them led by current candidates for the post of head of government.
(AFP)
