FIJI: ‘Stifled aspirations’: The 2014 General Election under restrictive laws

On 17 September 2014, eight years after the 5 December 2006 coup, Fiji held a General Election under repressive laws curtailing freedom of expression and the media, government accountability and the judiciary. A notable number of 248 candidates aspired for the 50 parliamentary seats under the 2013 C...

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Autor principal:	Mosmi Bhim
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Asia Pacific Network 2015
Materias:	accountability censorship elections Fiji Fiji coups freedom of expression Communication. Mass media P87-96 Journalism. The periodical press, etc. PN4699-5650
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/f9314aa5e5c34fd59f1be5987eeb8e60
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:f9314aa5e5c34fd59f1be5987eeb8e602021-12-02T10:34:33ZFIJI: ‘Stifled aspirations’: The 2014 General Election under restrictive laws10.24135/pjr.v21i1.1511023-94992324-2035https://doaj.org/article/f9314aa5e5c34fd59f1be5987eeb8e602015-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://ojs.aut.ac.nz/pacific-journalism-review/article/view/151https://doaj.org/toc/1023-9499https://doaj.org/toc/2324-2035On 17 September 2014, eight years after the 5 December 2006 coup, Fiji held a General Election under repressive laws curtailing freedom of expression and the media, government accountability and the judiciary. A notable number of 248 candidates aspired for the 50 parliamentary seats under the 2013 Constitution and an Electoral Decree released a few months prior to elections. In an atmosphere of lavish campaign advertisements on billboards, public transport vehicles and the print and television news media by the post-coup Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama’s political party FijiFirst, recently activated political parties struggled to have their voices heard. Two daily media companies—the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation and the Fiji Sun—displayed bias towards the FijiFirst party by providing them with excessive and preferential coverage and portraying other parties in a negative light; other media organisations attempted to give fairer coverage. The debate heated up amid crackdowns by police on ‘trouble-makers’ vandalising FijiFirst posters. The country headed for the polls as celebrations marked the release of 45 Fijian soldiers held hostage by Al-Nusra in the Golan Heights. Amid complaints by five political parties, the election was declared ‘free and fair’ by the Electoral Commission. This article, through analysis of media materials, campaigning, polling and results calculations, contends that the elections only satisfied part of the international criteria for ‘free and fair elections’.Mosmi BhimAsia Pacific NetworkarticleaccountabilitycensorshipelectionsFijiFiji coupsfreedom of expressionCommunication. Mass mediaP87-96Journalism. The periodical press, etc.PN4699-5650ENPacific Journalism Review, Vol 21, Iss 1 (2015)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	accountability censorship elections Fiji Fiji coups freedom of expression Communication. Mass media P87-96 Journalism. The periodical press, etc. PN4699-5650
spellingShingle	accountability censorship elections Fiji Fiji coups freedom of expression Communication. Mass media P87-96 Journalism. The periodical press, etc. PN4699-5650 Mosmi Bhim FIJI: ‘Stifled aspirations’: The 2014 General Election under restrictive laws
description	On 17 September 2014, eight years after the 5 December 2006 coup, Fiji held a General Election under repressive laws curtailing freedom of expression and the media, government accountability and the judiciary. A notable number of 248 candidates aspired for the 50 parliamentary seats under the 2013 Constitution and an Electoral Decree released a few months prior to elections. In an atmosphere of lavish campaign advertisements on billboards, public transport vehicles and the print and television news media by the post-coup Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama’s political party FijiFirst, recently activated political parties struggled to have their voices heard. Two daily media companies—the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation and the Fiji Sun—displayed bias towards the FijiFirst party by providing them with excessive and preferential coverage and portraying other parties in a negative light; other media organisations attempted to give fairer coverage. The debate heated up amid crackdowns by police on ‘trouble-makers’ vandalising FijiFirst posters. The country headed for the polls as celebrations marked the release of 45 Fijian soldiers held hostage by Al-Nusra in the Golan Heights. Amid complaints by five political parties, the election was declared ‘free and fair’ by the Electoral Commission. This article, through analysis of media materials, campaigning, polling and results calculations, contends that the elections only satisfied part of the international criteria for ‘free and fair elections’.
format	article
author	Mosmi Bhim
author_facet	Mosmi Bhim
author_sort	Mosmi Bhim
title	FIJI: ‘Stifled aspirations’: The 2014 General Election under restrictive laws
title_short	FIJI: ‘Stifled aspirations’: The 2014 General Election under restrictive laws
title_full	FIJI: ‘Stifled aspirations’: The 2014 General Election under restrictive laws
title_fullStr	FIJI: ‘Stifled aspirations’: The 2014 General Election under restrictive laws
title_full_unstemmed	FIJI: ‘Stifled aspirations’: The 2014 General Election under restrictive laws
title_sort	fiji: ‘stifled aspirations’: the 2014 general election under restrictive laws
publisher	Asia Pacific Network
publishDate	2015
url	https://doaj.org/article/f9314aa5e5c34fd59f1be5987eeb8e60
work_keys_str_mv	AT mosmibhim fijistifledaspirationsthe2014generalelectionunderrestrictivelaws
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FIJI: ‘Stifled aspirations’: The 2014 General Election under restrictive laws

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