Fiji Election Field Grows To 10 Registered Political Parties, Widest Voter Choice Since 2014

RNZ
Pacific reporters

Fijians
are set to be spoiled for choice in the upcoming general
election, with the country’s electoral office confirming
that 10 political parties are registered.

One Nation,
which is made up of members of the now de-registered
FijiFirst Party, was added to Fiji’s list of registered
political parties on Monday.

The NeXTGEN Alliance
Party, also registered earlier this month, and People First
– also made up of former FijiFirst members and registered in
January – complete the list of three new players hoping to
attract voters come election time.

The other seven
parties include The People’s Alliance, the Social Democratic
Liberal Party (Sodelpa), and National Federation Party
(which are in government), as well as the Fiji Labour Party,
Unity Fiji, Kingdom Unite All Peoples Party, and We Unite
Fiji Party (which are not in parliament).

Ten is the
most number of political parties since the first election
was held under the new 2013 Constitution in 2014.

The
last election, in December 2022, had nine registered
political parties. However, only four were successful in
meeting the five-percent threshold to enter
parliament.

The total number of registered voters in
the last election were more than 693,000 and voter turnout
stood at just over 68 percent – which marked a steady
decline compared to the 2014 and 2018 election
cycles.

FijiFirst, which was led by Frank Bainimarama
and Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, was the largest political party
during the 2014, 2018 and 2022 election cycles. However, it
failed to form government after a coalition formed by The
People’s Alliance, National Federation Party and Sodelpa
formed a majority to unseat the incumbent.

Fiji’s
upcoming general election is expected to be held any time
between 7 August 2026 (earliest) and 6 February 2027
(latest).

While the date of election is yet to be
revealed, campaigning
has kicked since late
May.

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