Bainimarama under investigation

Fiji police are currently investigating alleged electoral violations by the interim Prime Minister, Rear Admiral Frank Bainimarama following complaints lodged by Mick Beddoes of the United Front for a Democratic Fiji. Beddoes claims that Bainimarama breached the Political Parties decree by proceeding with his election campaign even before the registration of his political party – the Fiji First, and that he violated the Court of Arms of Fiji Act by using the national symbol on his campaign bus. If found guilty, Bainimarama could face up to ten years in jail, however, that may be unlikely.

This article was written by

Frida Bani-Sam

Frida initially joined PiPP under the research internship programme. She continues to support the ongoing development of communication activities and maintaining our website. Outside of PiPP, she is deputy-chair of the board of Youth Challenge Vanuatu.

A deeper look at the Vanuatu election

On 22 January 2016 the people of Vanuatu went to the polls to elect the eleventh and most diverse national Parliament. In this post we look more closely at the results, which reveals democracy in Vanuatu is seemingly delivering a kind of micro federalisation. While this is reflective of the reality on the ground, it does not bode well for nation building, and presents a significant challenge for political parties to consolidate or grow their share of the popular vote.
YOUR SAY: The new Global Goals

This short survey, undertaken in partnership with RMIT University, explains the new ‎Global Goals and gives people across the Pacific the chance to rate their relevance and help track progress. The more we know about the goals, the more we can hold our leaders to account to implement them.
Coalition builder

Frustrated with the status quo? Think you can do better? Have you always wanted to build your own parliamentary coalition government? Now you can with our new coalition builder web app!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

DP19 – It has often been said that nobody goes hungry in the Pacific, but is this true? Agricultural production has declined in recent decades and it’s not just natural disasters which can impact on food security.
REGIONAL MIGRATION

DP13 – An abridged version of the ‘Resources, population and migration in the Pacific: Connecting islands and rim’ report, arguing for greater opportunities for Pacific migration internally and to Pacific rim nations.
URBAN HYMNS

DP18 – Urbanisation needs to be seen and managed as a national priority, while a new mindset is required that can look positively at the urban process.