Fiji opened polls at polling stations Wednesday for its third democratic election since the 2006 coup d’état.
Authorities do not expect voter turnout to be high, with election supervisor Mohamed Sanem indicating that just over 10 percent of voters had gone to the polls by 11 a.m. local time.
«As the day progresses, we anticipate that there will be more people turning up (at polling stations),» Saneem said, as reported by the ‘Fiji Times’ newspaper.
The leaders of the previous military coups are vying for the post of prime minister. The current head of government, Frank Voreqe Bainimarama of the FijiFirst party, who came to power in the 2006 coup, faces former prime minister and opposition leader Sitiveni Rabuka, who was responsible for two previous coups in the 1980s, reports dpa.
The commander-in-chief of the Fiji Army, Navy Captain Frank Bainimarama, announced on December 5, 2006 that he had taken control of the country, seizing power from the government and assuming the powers of the president to remove former Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase from office. This was the fourth coup d’état in this South Pacific country in less than two decades.
Warase declared that the coup that removed him from power had «violated» the Constitution, which could lead to economic ruin in a country dependent on tourism.
Days later, the Commonwealth reported Fiji’s suspension as a member country of the organization for the coup that overthrew the constitutional government, as it had constituted «a serious violation» of the organization’s fundamental principles.
The Pacific island nation is a trade and transportation hub that has become central to the region’s response to strategic competition between China and the United States, which due to recent tension are vying for influence in the region.
