Fiji Elections - Final Results, and some comments

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Some 227,241 people voted for FijiFirst which gave them 50.02% of the vote and 27 seats in parliament, just enough to form the Government.  181,072 people voted for SODELPA (39.85%). This will give them 21 seats.  And 33,155 (7.38%) voted for NFP resulting in 3 seats, two short of being able to form a Coalition Government.  I need a day or two to record what people have been saying and attempt an analysis of the results. Hopefully, the Fiji Election Office's app will the fully functional soon. Meanwhile, the social media is awash with  misleading conclusions and "what if's".


Here's one of the better ones from a budding statistician.
"Only ten percent of iTaukei voted for FijiFirst." 

If this were so and, say, 90% of Indo-Fijians voted the same way and 50% of Others (Rotumans, Chinese, Europeans, etc.), then FijiFirst would have won slightly less than 40% — and SODELPA and NFP would be the new Government!

Others  allege voters have been bribed and the results tampered with, despite the fact that the Multinational Observer Group (MOG)  report voting was fair.  One wag said MOG members were wined, dined and bribed by FijiFirst to look the other way. He said they should be shot or sent home. 

Another said the computerised recording system should be send to Naboro prison.  I think he thought it is a person.  

In the mainstream media, Sitiveni Rabuka says he will not accept the result until his procedural complaints are heeded, and has called for the electoral system to be changed, promising to restore the Great Council of Chiefs when he is elected.

Many social media commentators also think the voting system is unfair. They are particularly confused about why someone in one party wins a seat when another person in another party with more votes does not.  In fact, the unsuccessful 22nd SODELPA candidate won 2,000 votes, while only six successful FijiFirst candidates won over 2,000 votes.   It is easy to see why some people are confused and other claim "foul play" but those doubting the results need a better understanding of the Open List Preferential voting system.   

It is the total party vote that determines the number of party seats. 

A candidate's vote only determines where he or she stands in the party pecking order.   

For example, over one-third of FijiFirst voters voted for Voqere Bainimarama.  He had 167,732 (36.92%) of the FijiFirst votes. This left the other 50 FijiFirst candidates with a smaller number to divide between  them.  Their 27th successful candidate Rosy Akbar won only 705 votes. 

In comparison, SODELPA's votes were more evenly distributed among its candidates.  Only 77,040 (16.96%) voted for Sitiveni Rabuka, which left more of their remaining votes to be distributed among  their other candidates. Hence their higher numbers. 

It is incumbent on all the parties, and people commenting in the social media,  to correct these misunderstandings — not exacerbate them. 


-- ACW