Transcript
STEVEN RATUVA: Something like 30 percent or so couldn't make up their mind so that is a very significant number in relation to people changing their mind when the election comes. It looks like Bainimarama is far ahead in terms of the election and perhaps one of the reasons as well why they want to have the election early, maybe as early as April instead of September, because I think the poll is in their favour at this point in time.
SALLY ROUND: And Sitiveni Rabuka, the leader of the main opposition party Sodelpa, sitting on 11 percent as preferred leader, what do you think of that?
SRATUVA: Sitiveni Rabuka is struggling to mobilise support within the Sodelpa party because when he came in, it kind of split the party into basically two fragments, one led by Ro Teimumu (Kepa) and one led by himself and the party itself has been in a bit of disarray as a result of factionalism within the party itself. He hasn't been able to mobilise the kind of support that one would have expected him given his high profile, to be able to stamp his authority within the party. Given time it might go up above 11 percent but I think one of the challenges for Sodelpa is being able to sort out internal differences within the party. Ro Teimumu herself, she had a lot of respect and support within the party and amongst a lot of Fijians particularly the more traditional supporters. Rabuka has been out of politics for a long time and is struggling to get his status back. He's been away from politics for 19 years and is trying his best to find a niche in the new political dynamics in Fiji.
SROUND: We've seen the opposition parties club together recently in their opposition to the current Elections Supervisor and the Attorney-General holding the role of Minister of Elections. Is this pointing towards them actually galvanising and forming a coalition in opposition?
SRATUVA: The talk of coalition has been there all the time even before the 2014 election. One of the difficulties in forming a coalition is that you have political parties having different political ideologies, even personal interests. They have different histories, different, if you like, ideological standpoints, and most of all because Fiji's new electoral system, where there are 50 seats and you have an open single constituency, forming a coalition can be a challenge for political parties because if they form a coalition before the election then they have to take the risk of negotiating numbers to reduce the number of candidates which they put forward which means that they might create tension even within their own parties so one of the possibilities is to have a coalition after the election. The idea of the parties ganging up together against FijiFirst is something we will see in the next election and I think the parties may even campaign together and may even do compromises in terms of supporting certain candidates together.
SROUND: And what about their across the board opposition to the Elections Supervisor?
SRATUVA: Yes, the opposition to the Supervisor of Elections has been there even during the last election in 2014. The political parties and some members of the public were not very happy with the appointment of the Supervisor of Elections and his performance. So in terms of perception ... one of the things about elections is that those involved in the election should be perceived to be independent and I think because the Attorney-General at the moment is also the Secretary-General of FijiFirst, so people see that as the political linkages between the electoral office and, if you like, the political office. So I think it's very, very important for the electoral process in Fiji, in terms of symbolism, in terms of perception of the people, it has to be seen to be independent rather than seen to be politically aligned.
SROUND: So this could be seen as a thorn in the side as they go forward to the election?
SRATUVA: Yes it will always be there. I think other political parties will keep raising it and whether it will change anything or not is another question.
