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FIJI-ELECTION
Fiji’s ruling FijiFirst party wins general elections
SUVA, Nov 18,2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – The FijiFirst party, the island nation’s
ruling party led by incumbent Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, has won this
year’s general elections.
According to the official results announced by Fiji’s Electoral Commission
on Sunday, the FijiFirst party topped the official tally of the 2018 general
elections results with 227,241 votes, which is 50.02 percent of the total
votes in the island nation.
The ruling party will get 27 parliamentary seats and will form the next
government.
The Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA), the nation’s main opposition
party, is in the second place on the official tally with 181,072 votes, 39.85
percent of the total votes. SODELPA will get 21 parliamentary seats.
The National Federation Party (NFP) won 33,515 votes, 7.38 percent of the
total votes. The party will get 3 parliamentary seats.
The total number of votes cast in the general elections was 458,532 votes.
Of which, the total number of valid votes was 454,335 votes while the total
number of invalid votes was 4,197 votes.
The total number of registered voters for the 2018 general elections was
637,527 votes, which means that 178,995 registered voters did not vote in the
elections.
The Electoral Commission has returned the writ of elections to Fijian
President Jioji Konrote on Sunday, confirming that the 2018 general elections
has now been complete.
Bainimarama has voiced his satisfaction with the results of the elections,
saying in a statement on Sunday that he is proud to become the island
nation’s prime minister once again.
He said that Nov. 18 is truly “a great day in Fiji’s history” where the
majority of Fijians have emphatically voted and put their hand up to support
the FijiFirst message of ongoing inclusive progress.
This is Fiji’s second general elections since a military coup in 2006 and
the last elections took place in 2014.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1820HRS