Fiji election: Bainimarama headed for outright majority

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/18/fiji-election-bainimarama-headed-for-outright-majority

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Fiji’s military ruler for the past eight years appeared to be headed to a decisive victory on Thursday to become the south Pacific nation’s elected leader.

With votes from three-fifths of polling stations counted, Voreqe Bainimarama’s Fiji First party was winning 60% of the vote, while its closest rival, the Sodelpa party, was trailing with 27%. The margin will ensure Fiji First will be able to rule outright in the parliament under the country’s proportional system.

A day earlier there was excitement among thousands of voters and relief from the international community as Fijians cast ballots in the landmark election they hope will end more than a quarter-century of political turmoil.

Bainimarama, who has ruled since seizing control in a 2006 coup, is popular in Fiji thanks in part to his focus on social programmes, increased infrastructure spending and careful cultivation of his image through media controls.

After casting his ballot, Bainimarama was asked whether he would accept the outcome if he lost. “I’m not going to lose. I will win. You ask that question to the other party,” he said. Then he added: “Of course we will accept the election results. That is what the democratic process is all about.”

The 100 or so international election observers did not report any immediate problems by the time voting closed. A little more than half a million of the nation’s 900,000 citizens registered to vote.

The international community is prepared to drop remaining sanctions once Fiji officially restores democracy, including returning it to full membership among the Commonwealth group of nations.

Supporters say Bainimarama’s popularity reflects a job well done, while detractors say he is seeking to legitimise his treasonous power grab and years of human rights abuses.

Ro Teimumu Kepa, leader of Sodelpa, said after voting that she and her candidates had done the best job they could: “We leave it to the people to decide.”

An indigenous Fijian, Bainimarama is paradoxically most popular with the large minority of the population whose ancestors come from India – mainly because he has ended preferential indigenous representation in the parliament and abolished the Great Council of Chiefs, a group of powerful indigenous Fijians who enjoyed a privileged status in island life.

Human rights groups say Bainimarama has tortured prisoners and repressed opponents, while carefully cultivated his own image by at first censoring and then controlling the nation’s media, as well as tampering with the constitution to ensure he and other coup leaders are immune from prosecution.