Fiji officials call in the military after close election
The First Fiji party, led by Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, refused to concede a close election last week. Bainimarama has been in power for 16 years. His party originally won the most seats in Parliament. But the second-place party aligned with two others to form a majority coalition that outnumbers First Fiji. Police have called in the military to keep order amid political unrest.
Why is this significant? Fiji has a history of conflict between native islanders and ethnic Indians. Until about 10 years ago, it had a race-based voting system that reportedly favored indigenous Fijians. Officials say the current political uncertainty is contributing to violence and threats against minority groups on the island.
Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, listen to Anna Johansen Brown’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about Fiji’s COVID-19 policies.
An actual newsletter worth subscribing to instead of just a collection of links. —Adam
Sign up to receive The Sift email newsletter each weekday morning for the latest headlines from WORLD’s breaking news team.
Please wait while we load the latest comments...
Comments
Please register, subscribe, or log in to comment on this article.