With the final results of Fiji’s general election still awaiting, international observers said on Friday they had no significant concerns about the conduct of the election, a day after opposition leaders called for a halt to counting votes. alleging anomalies.
The situation in Fiji has been tense since voters exercised their right to vote on Wednesday. On Wednesday night, the vote count was marred by a technical problem and the provisional results were hidden from public view for four hours. The system was restored on Thursday.
As many as six opposition parties along with one of Fiji’s largest churches said they had lost confidence in the counting process.
However, international observers have disputed the claims of major problems. Rebekha Sharkie, one of the observers and an Australian member of parliament, told AFP on Friday that they did not observe any significant irregularities or problems during pre-voting, postal voting or on Election Day.
An interim report from the Multinational Observer Group found that Wednesday’s glitches affected the way numbers were displayed in the voting results app, but did not indicate that the counting system was affected. “The bug was resolved and the results app was restored after approximately four hours with corrected data,” the group’s report says.
Former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, one of the top contenders in this election, along with three other opposition leaders on Thursday demanded a suspension of vote counting and an urgent forensic audit. They threatened to boycott the next parliament if these demands were not met.
On Thursday, the ruling Fiji First party was leading provisional results with 45.88% of the vote as of 7 am, ahead of the People’s Alliance Party with 32.66% of the vote, the Reuters news agency reported. The National Federation Party had obtained 9.29% of the vote. The final results of the election will be known on Sunday.
(With contributions from agencies)
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