Photo: RNZ / Philippa Tolley
The leader of Fiji's main opposition party says the country's new single-constituency electoral system will make the 2018 election campaign very expensive.
Ahead of the 2014 election - the country's first since the 2006 coup - electorates were abolished in favour of one single national constituency with 50 MPs.
The leader of the Sodelpa party, Sitiveni Rabuka, said this meant that candidates would be travelling across the country, instead of focussing on a specific area.
He said that's why the party was looking to raise $US813000 for the election.
"All the candidates will be expected to visit the whole of the Fiji group to solicit support from the people. It's not like we used to have before where we had geographic areas. Now we have one national constituency where 50 candidates from each party can stand and they have to criss-cross the whole nation campaigning for themselves and their party."
Sitiveni Rabuka concedes the $US813000 figure is ambitious, but he is confident the party can meet it.
