FijiFirst ( fj, iMatai ni Viti) is a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. The party was formed in March 2014 by then

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Frank Bainimarama Josaia Voreqe "Frank" Bainimarama (Fijian: ʃoˈsɛia βoˈreŋɡe mbɛiniˈmarama born 27 April 1954) is a Fijian politician and former naval officer who served as the prime minister of Fiji from 2007 until 2022. A member of the FijiFirst ...

Formation

The party was launched on 31 March 2014 with Bainimarama beginning a nationwide tour of the country in a campaign bus to collect the obligatory 5000 signatures necessary to register a political party. The party collected over 40,000 signatures for its registration. Bainimarama says FijiFirst is a name that encompasses his political beliefs. He listed his first candidate and party president

Jiko Luveni Jiko Fatafehi Luveni ( – 22 December 2018) was a Fijian politician and Speaker of the Parliament of Fiji. She was a member of the FijiFirst party before resigning her party membership in order to take up the position of Speaker. This was becaus ...

. The party appointed former Fiji Labour Party senator

Bijai Prasad Bijai Prasad was one of the eight nominees of the Leader of the Opposition to the Senate of Fiji after the 2006 elections. In 2014, he became Vice-President of the newly formed FijiFirst FijiFirst ( fj, iMatai ni Viti) is a liberal political ...

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. The Tui

Macuata Macuata is one of Fiji's fourteen Provinces, and one of three based principally on the northern island of Vanua Levu, occupying the north-eastern 40 percent of the island. It has a land area of 2004 square kilometers. The Province has 114 villa ...

, Ratu Wiliame 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. The party's application for registration resulted in six complaints, including one claiming that "Fiji 1st" was previously used by another party. Despite this, the party was registered on 30 May 2014.

2014 election

The party released its first batch of 21 candidates on July 25, 2014 with

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.

2018 election

The party ran 51 candidates in the

2018 elections The following elections are scheduled to occur in 2018. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. Africa *2018 Djiboutian parliamentary election 23 February 2018 *2018 Sierra Leonean general elect ...

, ten of which were women. FijiFirst won the 2018 general elections with a reduced majority from the

2014 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2014. * 2014 United Nations Security Council election 16 October 2014 Africa * 2014 Algerian presidential election 17 April 2014 * 2014 Botswana general election 24 October 2014 * 2014 Comorian presi ...

. FijiFirst accumulated 227,241 of the votes that resulted on the party gaining 50.02% that allocated to 27 seats enough for the party to govern alone within a slim majority.

2022 election

Despite remaining the first party in the 2022 election FijiFirst saw its vote share reducing again down to 42.55%, causing the party to lose its majority in the Parliament. With only 3 seats the SODELPA emerged as kingmaker, and after 6 days of negotiations it decided to support a PAP-led cabinet, effectively ending FijiFirst's eight-year tenure and Bainimarama's 16-year premiership.

Electoral history

Parliamentary elections

References

External links

Official website
{{Political parties in Fiji 2014 establishments in Fiji Political parties established in 2014 Political parties in Fiji Social liberal parties Populist parties