General elections were held in Fiji between 6 and 13 May 2006.
The incumbent Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua government, led by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, was re-elected for a third term in government, opposed by the Labour Party, led by Mahendra Chaudhry, as well as several other minor parties. However, Qarase was later removed from office following a coup d'état.
Background
The 1997 Constitution of Fiji required general elections for the House of Representatives to be held at least once every five years. Acting President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi issued a proclamation on 2 March 2006, effective from 27 March, dissolving Parliament. The previous parliamentary term had been due to expire on 1 October 2006.
The Writ of Elections was issued on 28 March; candidates filed their nominations on 11 April and published their preference lists on the 13th, while voter registration closed on 4 April.
Electoral boundary adjustments
A major issue to be resolved ahead of the election was that of constituency boundaries. With the constitution requiring the 25 open constituencies and 29 of the 46 communal constituencies to be substantially equal in population, the Constituency Boundaries Commission, chaired by Barrie Sweetman, explored possible changes. Time constraints made the matter an urgent one, he said on 21 November. The elections office also revealed that any changes to electoral boundaries would require a reregistration of all voters affected, further complicating the exercise. A final decision was expected by the end of November 2005, but this was delayed.
Sweetman announced on 6 February 2006 that with the elections so close, boundaries might not be changed at all. Unless there was pressure from political parties, the commission would meet in the next week to decide the matter, he said.
The Commission ruled on 24 February that there would be no changes to electoral boundaries, citing lack of time before the forthcoming elections. Changes could be made only following a census, the last of which was held in 1996; current population data was too old, Sweetman said. The commission called for a review of census laws, suggesting an interval of five years rather than the current ten.
Election characterised by ethnic politics
Elections in Fiji at the time were characterised by two fundamental realities.
Firstly, for the past generation, the basic faultline of Fijian politics is not ideological, but ethnic, with most political parties appealing mainly to a single ethnic group, although many parties would say that is not their intention. This election proved to be no exception, with over 80 percent of the popular vote and all 23 seats reserved for indigenous Fijians going to the SDL, and a similar percentage and all 19 seats reserved for Indo-Fijians going to the FLP. Secondly, the electoral system is based on transferable voting. Known locally as the "Alternative Vote," this system incorporates elements of both instant run-off voting and group voting ticket. Votes cast for low-polling candidates are transferred to higher-polling candidates according to a ranking of "preferences" specified by the candidates, though voters who so wish may customize the preferences. This makes it necessary, in many cases, for political parties to seek alliances to win constituencies.
Depending on ideological, demographic, and electoral factors, parties may seek to consolidate their position in communal constituencies (reserved by ethnicity) by forging alliances with other parties appealing to the same ethnic group, or improve their position in open constituencies (elected by universal suffrage) by entering into alliances with parties that appeal to different ethnic groups. There are 46 communal constituencies (23 reserved for indigenous Fijians, 19 for Indo-Fijians, 1 for Rotuman Islanders, and 3 for minorities such as Caucasians, Chinese, and Banaban Islanders), and 25 open constituencies.
Coalition politics
A record of 25 parties had registered for the 2006 election, as of early March. Most of the major parties led by indigenous Fijians have formed a coalition, tentatively known as the Grand Coalition Initiative Group, in an attempt to consolidate the indigenous vote; the coalition appears certain to be dominated by the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL), which the nucleus of the present ruling coalition of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. (A smaller party, the Conservative Alliance (CAMV) was part of the ruling coalition and of the Grand Coalition, but was dissolved and merged into the SDL in early March).