PINA

Counting in Fiji's national election on Friday showed Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama's party trailing the opposition in election results from the island nation’s elections office. Voter turnout in the third democratic election since Bainimarama came to power in a 2006 coup was less than 60 percent, which analysts said was the lowest in a decade. His Fiji First party had attracted...

Fiji's Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem has responded to political parties calling for full manual counting of votes. In a press conference Thursday, Saneem highlighted that there have been inaccurate statements made by the parties. Saneem clarified that the counting of votes is manual. “Anybody calling for a manual count in Fiji, tell me what else can I do to make it...

Australian foreign affairs minister Penny Wong has commended Fiji's General election on Wednesday that was conducted in a peaceful manner. Wong was responding to Fiji's main opposition leader, Sitiveni Rabuka who said his party has no faith in the election count that’s underway. Rabuka said he will complain to Fiji's election office and petition the country's President on the matter. “Look, I'm...

The People’s Alliance Leader Sitiveni Rabuka is denying he’s planning to carry out another coup despite calling on the Fiji military to intervene in continuing electoral process. In a press conference Thursday, Rabuka undertook to write to the military commander on behalf of his and three other political party leaders to intervene in the vote-counting process claiming the constitution allows...

The former Australian Coalition government’s failure to set more ambitious climate change targets hurt Australia’s standing in the Pacific, senior Liberal Simon Birmingham has conceded. Wrapping up a four-day visit to the Pacific region as part of a bipartisan delegation led by Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Senator Birmingham, now the party’s foreign affairs spokesman, said it was important that the...

As a large ocean state, Palau has called on the United Nations Ocean partners for enhanced support for the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean and its resources. Such support should consider the Pacific region’s particularities and special circumstances. The call was made by Palau CBD National Focal Point and State Forester of the Palau Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and...

Work by the Commonwealth Secretariat to support Fiji's Reserve Bank in digitising its paper-based certificates of securities, such as government bonds, will benefit investors, making it easier for them to own, safekeep and trade in the country's financial market, valued at about US$6 billion. In a recent letter, the Bank's Governor Ariff Ali expressed his appreciation to the Commonwealth Secretariat...

New Zealand Warriors and the Pasifika Aotearoa Collective (PAC) have joined hands to provide a range of football and commercial benefits for both organisations. PAC is a collection of bodies from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga and the New Zealand Māori Rugby League which was formed last year to deliver a stronger voice and more opportunities for...

The Social Democratic Liberal Party is demanding a full count of the votes cast in Fiji's 2022 General Election. In a press conference Thursday, SODELPA Leader Viliame Gavoka said they are concerned with the manner of the counting of the provisional results, particularly with the glitch issue. Gavoka claims this is the same issue that occurred in 2014 and the 2018...

Fiji's main opposition leader Sitiveni Rabuka says he doesn't have faith in the vote count underway from Wednesday’s general election, and will complain to the Fijian Elections Office (FEO). Provisional counting was suspended late last night after the FEO reported a glitch in the election results app. After the app went back online, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama's Fiji First party had...