FijiFirst
FijiFirst | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Frank Bainimarama |
| President | Jiko Luveni |
| Secretary-General | Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum |
| Founded | 31 March 2014 |
| Headquarters | 96 Brown Street, Suva |
| Ideology | Classical liberalism |
| MPs | 32 / 50
|
| Website | |
| fijifirst | |
FijiFirst is a registered political party in Fiji. The party was formed in March 2014 by the current Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama.
Formation
The party was launched on March 31, 2014, along with its campaign bus which Bainimararma used to travel around Fiji and to collect the required 5000 signatures to register the party. [1]
Bainimarama says FijiFirst is a name that encompasses his political beliefs.[2]
He listed his first candidate and party president; Jiko Luveni, the current Minister for Women.[3]
The party collected over 40,000 signatures for the registration of the party.[4]
The party appointed former Fiji Labour Party senator, Bijai Prasad as one of its Vice Presidents as well as the current Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum as the party General secretary. Bijai Prasad resigned as VP a day later citing a criminal conviction for larceny in the 1980s for which he had served jail time.[5] The Tui Macuata, Ratu Viliame Katonivere was also selected as a vice president of the party. Vimlesh Kumar who is an accountant and an affiliate member of CPA Australia is listed as the treasurer.[6]
The party's application for registration resulted in six complaints,[7] including one from a party which had previously used the "Fiji First" name.[8] Despite this, the party was registered on 30 May 2014.[9]
2014 election
The party released its first batch of 21 candidates on July 25, 2014[10] with Frank Bainimarama heading the list. As a result of the 2014 Fijian general elections, the party won 293,714 votes, 59.2% of all those who voted (495,105 voters), giving the party a clear majority with 32 of the 50 Parliamentary seats.[11]
According to an article published in The Economist by an uncredited writer in Wellington, New Zealand, despite its electoral success, the FijiFirst government is also "despised" by "many" native Fijians for implementing the 2013 Constitution of Fiji which describes all of Fiji's citizens as "Fijians", regardless of their ethnicity, causing "some" indigenes to have fears of "cultural annihilation" and an "Islamic conspiracy to control the country", due to the Attorney General of Fiji being of Muslim background."[12]
References
- ^ "'I want a new Fiji' - Fiji Times Online". Retrieved 2014-04-26.
- ^ "Pacific.scoop.co.nz » Fiji First unveiled as Bainimarama's new party name for elections". Retrieved 2014-04-26.
- ^ "Fiji First registration now weeks away - Radio New Zealand News". Retrieved 2014-04-26.
- ^ "Fiji's Bainimarama lodges party application - Radio New Zealand News". Retrieved 2014-05-08.
- ^ "FijiFirst man quits over criminal record". Retrieved 2014-05-08.
- ^ "I did not have to think twice - Tui Macuata". Retrieved 2014-05-08.
- ^ "Fiji First Party approval outlined". Radio New Zealand International. 2014-06-02. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
- ^ "Fiji First party registration decried". Radio New Zealand International. 2014-05-31. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
- ^ "Fijian PM's Fiji First party officially registered". Shanghai Daily. 2014-05-30. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
- ^ Swamy, Nasik. "FijiFirst candidates". Fiji Times. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
- ^ "2014 Election Results". Fiji Elections Office. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
- ^ "Fiji's army-tainted politics". The Economist. 23 January 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
