2006 Fijian general election

Elections in Fiji are characterized by two fundamental realities.

• Firstly, for the past generation, the basic faultline of Fijian politics is not ideological, but ethnic, with most political parties appealing mainly to a single ethnic group, although many parties would say that is not their intention. This election proved to be no exception, with over 80 percent of the popular vote and all 23 seats reserved for indigenous Fijians going to the SDL, and a similar percentage and all 19 seats reserved for Indo-Fijians going to the FLP.
• Secondly, the electoral system is based on transferable voting. Known locally as the "Alternative Vote," this system incorporates elements of both instant run-off voting and group voting ticket. Votes cast for low-polling candidates are transferred to higher-polling candidates according to a ranking of "preferences" specified by the candidates, though voters who so wish may customize the preferences. This makes it necessary, in many cases, for political parties to seek alliances to win constituencies.

Depending on ideological, demographic, and electoral factors, parties may seek to consolidate their position in communal constituencies (reserved by ethnicity) by forging alliances with other parties appealing to the same ethnic group, or improve their position in open constituencies (elected by universal suffrage) by entering into alliances with parties that appeal to different ethnic groups. There are 46 communal constituencies (23 reserved for indigenous Fijians, 19 for Indo-Fijians, 1 for Rotuman Islanders, and 3 for minorities such as Caucasians, Chinese, and Banaban Islanders), and 25 open constituencies.

Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes spoke out on 30 September to call on politicians to avoid using hate speech in the run-up to the election. He said the police would prosecute anyone who appealed for votes on the basis of hate or fear.

United Peoples Party leader Mick Beddoes similarly called on party leaders to exert better control over members making public statements, while Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua General Secretary Jale Baba said that the making of hate speeches by any member of the party would never be tolerated.

On 26 November 2005, Electoral Commission Chairman Graeme Leung proposed a Code of Conduct prohibiting political parties from using inflammatory language, and from appealing to racial, religious, regional, or gender divisions. False and defamatory allegations would be banned, as would calls inciting violence or hatred. Disruption of meetings and political rallies would also be proscribed. Leung called on all political parties to adopt the code of conduct and said that ideally, it should be enshrined in legislation. Many politicians welcomed the proposed code, with FLP Deputy Leader Poseci Bune calling it long overdue. Mick Beddoes supported it also, but cautioned that it would work only if persons breaching it were disciplined for doing do. Cabinet Minister Simione Kaitani, while endorsing the proposal in general, said the prohibition against appealing to racial divisions was "unrealistic," as politics was based to such a great extent on race. National Alliance Party President Ratu Epeli Ganilau also welcomed the code of conduct and called for legislation to effect it, but said it would be hard to enforce it.

Calls for restrained language have not always been heeded. Closer to the election, the main political leaders traded accusations of "terrorism." Prime Minister Qarase called Opposition Leader Mahendra Chaudhry a "terrorist" on 15 February 2006, for allegedly using his travels abroad to discredit the government and discourage investment. According to the Fiji Sun, he was responding to claims made by Chaudhry at the FLP campaign launch in Ba Town on the 11th that the government itself was full of terrorists, but said that he would not be suing Chaudhry because he did not want to "waste time" on him. Chaudhry then reacted by saying that the Qarase government was full of terrorists. "There are people in his Government, ministers, who have been convicted of offences relating to the May 2000 coup," he said. He claimed that Qarase had won the 2001 elections by vote-buying and by hiding from the voters the role that many of his candidates had allegedly played in the 2000 coup.

Also on the 15th, Fiji Television quoted the Prime Minister as saying that Chaudhry was "unstable" and unfit to lead the country.

Speaking to Fiji Live on 16 February, the Prime Minister challenged Chaudhry to produce the evidence for his allegations that there are terrorists serving in the government; if such proof existed, he should refer it to the police. He reiterated that he did not want to waste time pursuing the matter legally.

Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase announced on 2006-03-01 that the 2006 general elections would be held in the second week of May from the 6th to the 13th. (Radio New Zealand)

Fiji Television reported on 26 January 2006 that electoral registration of Indo-Fijians was down by more than twelve percent on 2001 figures, reflecting the high rate of emigration from that community. Although guaranteed 19 communal constituencies, the latest statistics would make it more difficult for Indo-Fijian-dominated parties to win many of the 25 open constituencies, which are elected by universal suffrage, the report said.

Vice-President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi expressed concern about this trend on 8 February, saying that it would lead to electoral disparity, and Robbie Robertson, Professor and Director of Development Studies at the University of the South Pacific, said that the Indo-Fijian share of the electorate this year would be only 40 percent of the total voting population, an all-time low.

Military spokesman Captain Neumi Leweni said on 19 February that the election should be postponed until a national census could be conducted. He reiterated earlier concerns about redrawing electoral boundaries when no census had been conducted, saying that compromised the fairness of the election. Constituency Boundaries Commission Chairman Barry Sweetman, however, said that the Military should have raised the matter while the Committee was taking submissions. There has been no census since 1996; the one due in 2006 has been postponed till 2007 because of the elections.

Some politicians have alleged that there have been irregularities in the process of the registration of voters in the leadup to the election.

United Peoples Party leader Mick Beddoes alleged in September 2005 that persons of multiracial ancestry were being encouraged by electoral officials to register on the indigenous communal roll, rather than the General Electors' roll. While the Constitution empowers persons of multiple ethnic origins to decide for themselves what roll to choose, Beddoes said that officials were providing prospective voters with registration forms only for the indigenous and Indo-Fijian rolls, not the General Electors' one. He repeated the allegation in March 2006, according to a Fiji Times report on 9 March. General electors and even Indo-Fijians with some distant indigenous ancestry were being asked to register as indigenous voters, on the bases of false claims that doing so would entitle them to membership of the Native Land Register, he alleged. Elections Supervisor Semesa Karavaki rejected Beddoes's allegations, saying that people with any indigenous ancestry were constitutionally entitled to register as such, and at any rate, many of Beddoes's examples were spurious. He said that some that Beddoes had identified as "General Electors" mis-enrolled as indigenous Fijians were, in fact, full-blooded Fijians married to General Electors and using their husbands' names.

Fiji Labour Party (FLP) leader Mahendra Chaudhry has alleged that multiple irregularities have arisen in the enrollment of Indo-Fijians. In some areas, he said, none had been able to register, elderly and disabled members of the community had been told they did not need to register; some had been registered for the wrong constituencies, while others had been wrongly recorded with their given names and surnames reversed, rendering the registration invalid. On 6 October, he called for the registration process to be halted and begun again from scratch. He wondered aloud whether the irregularities were a deliberate ploy to reduce the numbers of Indo-Fijians enrolled for the 2006 election. This would not affect the number of communal seats held by Indo-Fijians, which is constitutionally fixed at 19, but could have an effect on the results in the 25 open constituencies elected by universal suffrage.

FLP parliamentarian Vijay Singh threatened on 28 January 2006 that if alleged errors in voter registration were not put right, his party would take legal action to prevent elections from taking place in particular constituencies. The threat of legal action was reiterated by Mahendra Chaudhry on 2 February. Singh alleged that in his own Vuda Open Constituency, numerous voters had been wrongly registered in other constituencies. Registration was down on 2001 figures, but the population of the electorate had increased, he maintained.

SDL Campaign Director Jale Baba alleged on 30 January that the FLP had deliberately urged its supporters to delay registering, in order to manipulate the Boundaries Commission, an assertion rejected as false by FLP Parliamentarian Lekh Ram Vayeshnoi. To the contrary, the FLP had been urging its supporters to register, he said. He complained, however, that registration was being carried out before constituency boundaries had been finalized, which he said was illegal under the Electoral Act.

The Elections Office revealed on 1 February that a total of 1628 duplicate registrations had been detected. No less than 317 of these were of persons aged under 21 and therefore disqualified from voting. The Fiji Labour Party said that the discovery of such irregularities came as no surprise, while United Peoples Party President Mick Beddoes said it called the electoral enrollment process into question, and called for independent organizers to be brought in to ensure that the process was fair.

Electoral Commission Chairman Graeme Leung had announced in late November 2005 that identity cards for voters were being prepared, to discourage voter impersonation. The card will record the voter's name and date of birth. The decision was not universally welcomed. People's National Party leader Meli Bogileka said that the whole purpose of identity cards would be defeated if electors without them were allowed to vote, and considered their introduction a waste of money. SDL executive member Navitalai Naisoro said that Fijian people were not used to identity cards, and that the system would not be readily accepted. Leung agreed that acceptance of the changes would take time.

The FLP and the National Alliance Party (NAPF) both claimed on 27 February 2006 that numerous irregularities persisted, including the registration of voters in wrong constituencies. FLP leader Mahendra Chaudhry said he believed this was deliberate.

Prime Minister Qarase revealed on 2 February 2006 that he would be inviting observers from the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, and possibly other organizations, to monitor the forthcoming elections.

A major issue to be resolved ahead of the election was that of constituency boundaries. With the constitution requiring the 25 open constituencies and 29 of the 46 communal constituencies to be substantially equal in population, the Constituency Boundaries Commission, chaired by Barrie Sweetman, explored possible changes. Time constraints made the matter an urgent one, he said on 21 November. The elections office also revealed that any changes to electoral boundaries would require a reregistration of all voters affected, further complicating the exercise. A final decision was expected by the end of November 2005, but this was delayed.

Sweetman announced on 6 February 2006 that with the elections so close, boundaries might not be changed at all. Unless there was pressure from political parties, the Commission would meet in the next week to decide the matter, he said.

The Commission ruled on 24 February that there would be no changes to electoral boundaries, citing lack of time before the forthcoming elections. Changes could be made only following a census, the last of which was held in 1996; current population data was too old, Sweetman said. The commission called for a review of census laws, suggesting an interval of five years rather than the current ten.

By 13 March 2006, a total of 24 parties had registered to contest the election. This list included some newcomers, as well as some parties that had been deregistered and subsequently reregistered. These included the Coalition of Independent Nationals (COIN), which applied for reregistration on 13 March.

Controversy erupted early in March 2006, with the ruling SDL being criticized by some for distributing funds, through the Duavata Initiative Trust, to needy people, allegedly in an attempt to buy votes. Campaign coordinator Jale Baba told Fiji Live that the charity was not bribery and that the party had, in fact, been raising money for the poor since 2002. On 8 March, Director of Public Prosecutions Josaia Naigulevu and Commissioner of Police Andrew Hughes confirmed to the Fiji Times that the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) had lodged a complaint about the scheme, and that police were looking into it.

Prime Minister Qarase was reported by Fiji Television on 6 March 2006 as saying that the economy had performed well under his government's stewardship, and that citizens could expect further strong economic growth and increased wages if his government was returned to office.

On 7 March, University of the South Pacific (USP) Vice-Chancellor Anthony Tarr found himself fending off criticism from Fiji Labour Party (FLP) President Jokapeci Koroi for accepting an invitation to address the public launch of the Grand Coalition Initiative Group on 10 March. He rejected Koroi's claims that it was inappropriate for him to be seen to be siding with a coalition promoting racial politics and that if he had thought there were any such connotations to the invitation, he would not have accepted it.

In addition to the political parties contesting the election, a number of organizations have expressed an intense interest in its conduct and outcome.

• Website of the Office of the Supervisor of Elections
• Claims of Vote Rigging by SDL Executive Navitalai Naisoro
• Fiji Times (newspaper) election coverage