Fiji’s election results continue to become interesting as the party with the smallest number of seats now hold the balance of power to decide who gets to form the next government.

The Electoral Commission on Monday endorsed the name of the 55 members who have been elected to parliament.

26 are those who were part of the Fiji First Party, 21 from People’s Alliance Party, five from the National Federation Party and three from SODELPA.

Right now, the Fiji First Party and the PAP-NFP coalition are tied with 26 seats and SODELPA is the party that will decide the majority.

Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna said he remained confident in the constitutional processes to ensure a peaceful transition towards the formation of Government.

“I have observed with close interest the conduct of the 2022 General Election in Fiji over the last few days and note the preliminary findings of the Multinational Observer Group last Friday and the declaration of the final results yesterday afternoon by the Supervisor of Elections,” Mr Puna said.

“I congratulate the Fijian people for exercising their democratic right through this election process, commend the orderly and effective running of these elections and congratulate all involved at all levels for ensuring the peaceful conduct of the elections.

“I also acknowledge the inclusion of the Pacific Islands Forum in the Multinational Observer Group, reaffirming Fiji’s commitment to the good governance principles as articulated in our political commitments as a Forum Family, including the Biketawa Declaration.

“Finally, may I convey the well wishes of the Blue Pacific to the people of Fiji and the Leaders you have elected.”

International Observers find no issues

International observers said they had no significant concerns about the conduct of Fiji's general election, after opposition leaders questioned the legitimacy of the vote.

The situation grew tense since votes were cast on Wednesday, with six opposition parties and one of the country's largest churches saying they have lost confidence in the counting process. Since then, counting has finished, and the nation has accepted results as free and fair.

But observers disputed claims of major problems, saying they "did not observe any significant irregularities or issues during pre-polling, postal voting or election day voting", according to observer and Australian member of parliament Rebekha Sharkie.

The nearly 100-strong Multinational Observer Group's interim report found the glitches had affected how numbers were displayed on the vote results app, but did not indicate the counting system itself had been impacted.

"The error was resolved and the results app was restored after approximately four hours with corrected data," the report read.

Fiji's election supervisor Mohammed Saneem has dismissed concerns about vote rigging as "conspiracy theories" and invited media to view the national counting centre when counting continued.

"I have nothing to hide," he said.

The man of the hour

The Social Democratic and Liberal Party or SODELPA leader Viliame Gavoka is the man who the nation is waiting on.

If the situation had turned out other ways, SODELPA would have ended up as backbenchers without having much say in the day to day running of the Government.

For the first time since 2014, SODELPA have a chance to get into Government but the question remains who will they be choosing.

After spending hours talking with the party management, they have issued a statement saying they have sent their negotiators back to the Fiji First Party and the coalition and they will issue something further on Wednesday.

SODELPA has two weeks to decide and do not seem in a hurry.

A legal opinion on the election

Fijian lawyer Graham Leung who has returned to Fiji after serving as the Solicitor-General for the Cook Islands gave his opinion on the matter.

According to him on his social media post, Section 67 of the Constitution will then come into play. It states:

"After a general election of members of Parliament, the Parliament shall be summoned to meet by the President no later than 14 days AFTER (sic) the announcement of the results of the general elections."

“If the results are announced today (Sunday December 18), Parliament must therefore meet no later than Sunday 1 January 2023.

“The first order of business of Parliament (after the members are sworn) is appointing a Speaker (section 77(1)(a),(b) from outside Parliament (and a Deputy, not being a Minister) from among the newly sworn MPs.)

"The member elected to Parliament who is the leader of one political party which has won more than 50 per cent of the total number of seats in Parliament assumes office as the Prime Minister...." (section 93(2). This will not apply in the present situation.

“If no one political party wins more than 50 per cent, the Speaker then calls for nominations from the floor. If only two persons are nominated (likely) the nominated candidate who wins more than 50 per cent of the votes is elected Prime Minister.  

“If there is no winner, a second vote must take place within 24 hours.  If after the second vote there is still no winner, it goes to a third vote again in 24 hours. And if after the third vote no one gets a majority,  the Speaker must advise the President of the failed attempts at electing a Prime Minister, and the President must within 24 hours dissolve Parliament and issue the writ for a fresh general election - section 93(3)(a),(b),(c).

“The winner of the largest number of seats will not necessarily be the party that will form the government under the constitution (if they win less than 50% of the seats).

“The President has no official role in the formation of government unlike the 1970 Constitution   where the Governor General would appoint as Prime Minister the MP who in "his own deliberate judgment" is best able to command the support of the majority of members of  the House of Representatives (not Parliament, which included the Senate (section 73, 1970 Constitution).

“There is no equivalent provision in the present Constitution.”