Suva—International observers said Friday they had no significant concerns about the conduct of Fiji’s general election, after opposition leaders questioned the legitimacy of the vote.
The situation has grown increasingly 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.
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.
Opposition figures led by former prime minister and two-time coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka are suspicious that the early tally was unexpectedly hidden from public view for four hours.
Rabuka also alleged that some villages appeared to have cast more ballots than there were registered voters.
He has called for the count to be stopped and the military to step in. Both calls have so far been rejected.
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.
Rabuka’s hopes of stopping the election faded further Friday as military commander Jone Kalouniwai rebuffed Rabuka’s plea for the military to intervene.
The answer was “no”, Rabuka said Friday, “he will not be drawn into it.”
Under a constitution drawn up in 2013 after a period of political turmoil, Fiji’s military has the “overall” responsibility for maintaining stability in the country.
‘Nothing to hide’
The election has been a high-stakes battle between Rabuka and incumbent Frank Bainimarama, political enemies and two of modern Fiji’s most important leaders.
While the vote is seen as a test of Fiji’s often-fragile democracy, there is a regional significance as well — Bainimarama has been close to China, while Rabuka is likely to distance himself from Beijing.
Rabuka—nicknamed “Rambo” after leading two coups in 1987—on Friday called for supporters to take part in a nationwide petition to express their unease.
Fiji’s election supervisor Mohammed Saneem has dismissed concerns about vote rigging as “conspiracy theories” and invited media to view the national counting centre.
“I have nothing to hide,” he said, while refusing to halt the count.
Bainimarama, a former Navy commodore, seized power through a military coup in 2006 and is one of the Pacific’s longest-serving leaders.
Rabuka was leading with almost 500 of 2,071 polling stations counted on Friday evening, but incoming results from urbanised areas were expected to favour Bainimarama.
Four Fijian prime ministers have been toppled by coups in the past 35 years.