News
2018 General Election: Commission deliberate on seat allocation
THE Electoral Commission have retired to go and deliberate and allocate seats for the 51 member Parliament. Members of the diplomatic corps, Speaker of Parliament Dr Jiko Luveni and members of the Multinational Observer Group...
2018 General Election: FijiFirst wins and will form next government
THE FijiFirst party will govern for another four years after receiving the highest number of votes in the 2018 General Election. FFP recorded 227,241 votes followed by the Social Democratic Liberal Party in second place with 181,072 votes while the National Federation Party came third with 33515 votes. NFP and SODELPA will form the Opposition...
Devotees celebrate birthday in the West
MEMBERS of the Ma’unatul Islam Association in Fiji celebrated Prophet Mohammed’s birthday today at the Girmit Centre in Lautoka. Association president Mohammed Rafiq said the important day was an important event on the Islamic calendar. “It is a time when we reflect on the teachings of the Prophet and about unity among our people and...
2018 General Election: Political parties intend to challenge poll result
OPPOSITION political parties are intending to challenge the result of the 2018 General Election. SODELPA candidate and general secretary Adi Litia Qionibaravi has revealed that political party leaders are meeting as they intend to challenge the results of the 2018 General Election. This announcement was made at the SODELPA party tent outside the counting centre...
London bridges blocked by environment protest, 70 arrested
LONDON (Reuters) – British police said they arrested more than 70 people at an environmental protest on Saturday, after demonstrators blocked five bridges across the River Thames in central London. Organizers of the ‘Extinction Rebellion’ event said they wanted to put pressure on Britain’s government to take greater action to slow climate change and eliminate...
With ‘my wife,’ Justin Bieber confirms marriage to Hailey Baldwin
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Pop singer Justin Bieber has confirmed his marriage to model Hailey Baldwin, posting the ultimate status update on social media two months after it was reported the couple had obtained a marriage license. “My wife is awesome,” Bieber wrote on his Instagram account, next to a picture of himself and Baldwin...
2018 General Election: Ballot boxes arrive from Taveuni and Ovalau
BALLOT boxes from Taveuni and Ovalau have just arrived at the National Counting Centre at 11:45am today. As of now 201 polling stations are left to be accounted for which includes these ballot boxes that have just arrived. Latest result update indicates that Fiji First Party maintains its lead with 205831 votes or 50.06 per...
Sassy goes ‘lewa strong’
IN the days building up to the 10th Vonu Uprising Music Festival of Dance, Music and Lights singer/songwriter locals fondly call “Sassy” had an idea for a song. That idea bloomed into her latest single titled “Lewa Strong” a tune she composed in an effort to advocate for girls and women’s issues and catapult them...
Pacific Island richness and beauty
COLIN Chung fell in love with Fiji when he first visited the island in 1974. He was just a young teenager and Fiji brought him many memories of his island home, Hawaii some 20-years-ago. After spending six months in the country, he unveiled yet another amazing discovery – the abundance of local foods available that...
From classroom to church – Achieving his childhood dream
WHEN the announcement came that he was to be appointed as the new archbishop of the Diocese of Polynesia, Father Fereimi Cama became emotional and thought of his late wife Mereadani. It’s a far cry from those early days in his village in Ono-i-Lau in the Lau Group where he once had a carefree childhood...
When two hearts become one
IT was a wedding that celebrated the beautiful cultures of Fiji and Samoa for Joseph and Janina Moaga-Vuicakau. Close to 300 guests including 200 family and friends flew to Janina’s homeland Samoa to attend their wedding. We sit with the couple to talk about their special day at the beautiful Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Samoa....
2018 General Election: Final results from 1972 polling stations
FIJIFIRST party maintains its lead with party votes at 205,831 votes from 1972 stations according to the latest update released by the Fijian Elections Office at 11:04am today. SODELPA is still in second place with 163,553 votes and the National Federation Party at third place with 30,457 votes. Unity Fiji party is in fourth place...
Star meets SAS dad
DANNY Ligairi Badham, renowned international actor, arrived in Fiji this week and for the first time, met his dad SAS (Special Air Forces) Major Ilisoni Ligairi. The emotional reunion at Nabalebale Village in Cakaudrove moved the hunky built Taboo Series actor to tears as he held his dad’s hands during the traditional function in the...
2018 General Election: Concerns raised over poll results
LEADERS of four opposition political parties have raised their concerns, claiming there was a mismatch between the Protocol of Results and the results being released by the Fijian Elections Office app. Leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party Sitiveni Rabuka, National Federation Party’s Professor Biman Prasad, Fiji Labour Party’s Mahendra Chaudhry and Unity Fiji party’s...
2018 General Election: 24 hours to finalise outcome
THE Fijian Elections Office has 24 hours from this morning to finalise the results of the 2018 General Election. Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem said the FEO was mandated under the Electoral Act to tabulate the results within 24 hours of the receipt of the final Protocol of Results from the polling stations. The final...
2018 General Election: Saneem pleads with voters
SUPERVISOR of Elections Mohammed Saneem has pleaded with voters to wait for all the stations results to be entered to the Fijian Elections Office app before making a conclusive statement on the final results. Mr Saneem made this comment after he raised concerns on numerous queries on social media about voters vote not present at...
2018 General Election: Group commends Fijians
THE Multinational Observer Group (MOG) has commended voters for coming out again to exercise their democratic right to vote yesterday. The MOG deployed several teams yesterday to observe voting and counting at polling venues where voting was adjourned on Election Day because of adverse weather, MOG co-chair Jane Prentice also commended the polling staff for...
2018 General Election: Party leaders call for vote counting to stop
FOUR political party leaders called for the suspension of the counting of the votes for the 2018 General Election yesterday. Social Democratic Liberal Party leader Sitiveni Rabuka, National Federation Party leader Professor Biman Prasad, Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry and Unity Fiji leader Savenaca Narube had informed the Fijian Elections Office to stop entering...
2018 General Election: Saneem clears the air on counting process issue
A LOT had been said these past few days about how the counting process for the 2018 General Election was being done. In a press conference, after the closure of polling on Wednesday, Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem confirmed that pre-poll and postal ballot papers were physically counted at the counting centre at Laucala Bay,...
2018 General Election: Final results from 1962 polling stations
FIJIFIRST party is still in the lead with party votes at 204,922 votes from 1962 stations according to the latest update released by the Fijian Elections Office at 10:10am today. However, SODELPA is still trailing behind in second place with 163,227 votes and the National Federation Party at third place with 30,335 votes. Unity Fiji...
2018 General Election: 64-year-old makes it a point to vote
ON his first attempt at voting earlier this week, Ram Chandra, 64, boarded a small fibreglass boat to cross the flooded Rewasa bridge in Rakiraki to cast his vote. Three days later, Mr Ram was again crossing the same bridge albeit in his family car accompanied by his wife and son. Mr Chandra said of...
2018 General Election: Villagers cross treacherous waters
NARAU settlement resident Veniana Taka said some villagers had to cross treacherous waters to vote on Wednesday at Mataso District School in Ra. “A lot of us walked in the rain or swam across rivers to come and vote. Only the weak and old couldn’t. They had to stay back in their homes,” she said....
2018 General Election: Final results from 1951 polling stations
THE latest final results from 1951 polling stations released at 9:08am today by the Fijian Elections Office sees the FijiFirst party extending their lead in the party votes with 203,523 votes. Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) is in second place with 162,050 votes, National Federation Party in third place with 30,125 votes while the Unity...
2018 General Election: Voters unable to cast their votes
MATACAUCAU village headman in Tailevu said that the Fijian Elections Office (FEO) must give a manual list of names of voters to all village leaders. Lote Madraitabua said this must be done in order to avoid confusions. According to Mr Madraitabua, some of the villagers were registered to vote at Namalata village hall but they...
2018 General Election: Media asked to vacate centre
THE media was asked to vacate the allocated space it was given at the National Results Centre in Suva’s National Gymnasium earlier tonight. About six Fijian journalists and a cameraman from six media organisations were asked by the Supervisor of Elections Mohammend Saneem to vacate the media centre by or before midnight. Mr Saneem told the...
Votes cast today carries same weight as Nov 14: Saneem
EVERY vote that has been cast today carries the same weight as the vote that was cast on November 14, 2018. This was raised by the Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem who said they have over 1700 results that they have entered and recorded and there is still a lot more results left to go....
17th November
Oh boy – vintage Mickey Mouse posters to fetch thousands at auction
LONDON (Reuters) – Seven rare vintage posters of Mickey Mouse are expected to fetch thousands of dollars at an auction that coincides with the 90th anniversary of the cartoon character’s first film appearance. The seven posters, dating from the 1930s and 1940s, went on display on Friday at a commemorative exhibition in London organized by...
2018 General Election: Miriama votes for her grandchildren’s future
MIRIAMA Cagivinaka says the rise in cost of basic food items led them to survive on whatever root crops and vegetables on their farm. The 61-year-old was among hundreds of people that cast their votes in Logani village, Tailevu this morning. “We can’t afford to buy our basic food items from the supermarkets because it’s...
2018 General Election: ‘Political parties should learn election framework, process’
THE supervisor of elections Mohammed Saneem is urging political parties to be ethical, honest and not mislead the people. His comment follows after the Opposition claimed that there was no provision in the Electoral Act for the provisional results. He says the opposition should learn the process and the election framework. “They haven’t come to...
2018 General Election: Polling for 22 stations successful
THE lowest voter turnout was at Nausori Technical College which was 43 per cent. This was highlighted by the Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem who stressed that some polling venues received a 78 per cent turn out. Mr Saneem said the polling today has been very successful. He said voters have till 6pm to cast...
