Fiji’s December 2022 election: FijiFirst’s defeat and the challenges ahead

Established in 1996 and funded in partnership by ANU and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the Department of Pacific Affairs (DPA) (formerly the State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Program) is the leading international centre for applied multidisciplinary research on issues of governance, state and society in the Pacific. Situated with the Coral Bell of Asia Pacific Affairs, DPA seeks to set the international standard for scholarship on the region. DPA undertakes a comprehensive suite of research, education and outreach activities, exemplifying the ANU’s strategic vision of uniting scholarly excellence with contributions that make an impact on public policy-making in an area of high national importance.

ANU Department of Pacific Affairs

In this event,Jon Fraenkel examines the Fiji 2022 election, analyses FijiFirst's defeat &amp;  looks at the challenges facing the new government

Hedley Bull Theatre 2, Hedley Bull Building

S﻿peaker: Jon Fraenkel, Victoria University of WellingtonFiji’s December 14th 2022 election saw the defeat of 2006 coup leader turned civilian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama’s Fiji First Party and victory for an opposition coalition led by Sitiveni Rabuka, the 1987 coup leader and 1992-99 Prime Minister. This seminar examines the polling venue-level data to investigate whether regional, class, ethnic or institutional factors determined that outcome, as well as exploring the influence of variations in the personal vote over the three open list proportional representation elections of 2014, 2018 and 2022. It also looks at the challenges facing the new government, the risks of instability and offers some comment on the vexed issue of the 2013 Constitution and its high threshold for amendment.A﻿bout the SpeakerJon Fraenkel is a Professor of Comparative Politics in the School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations at Victoria University of Wellington. He was formerly a Senior Research Fellow based at the Australian National University (2007-12) and the University of the South Pacific in Fiji (1995-2007). He is Pacific correspondent for The Economist, and has published extensively on the politics of Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Kiribati, Tonga, Samoa and Papua New Guinea. He works also on deeply divided societies, particularly Northern Ireland and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

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