Win or lose, Ms Loloma says she ran in the hope her story would inspire other Fijians to speak out about discrimination. The candidate for the National Federation says she understands all too well the feelings of being isolated and marginalized.
“One of the policies I would like to introduce is to stop the violence. There should be no hate speech. I think we need to get the country back to its safest state.”
Fiji’s top players
He again led his party Fiji First to an election victory in 2018, but by a narrow margin. Bainimarama has just maintained a majority government with 50.02% of the vote.
Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama after voting in Wednesday’s general election. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
The 68-year-old now faces the same candidate, 74-year-old Sitiveni Rabuka. The People’s Alliance leader was also a former coup plotter, first seizing power in 1987 when he led two coups after the election of the country’s first Indo-Fijian-dominated government. The acquisitions reaffirmed iTaukei indigenous leadership in Fiji.
When asked by SBS News on Wednesday, “if you don’t win, will you respect the result?” Mr Bainimarama said: “Of course,” before saying, “don’t they have any intelligent journalists from Australia who will come and ask me better questions than that?”
Rabuka also said he would respect this week’s vote. He has publicly apologized for the coups and spent much of the campaign emphasizing that he is a changed man and that he will respect minority rights this time. Indian Fijians make up about a third of the voting population.
“It may be what gets them over the line to become government this time, but either way it’s going to be a tight race,” he said.
LGBTIQ+ rights in Fiji
“Many LGBTIQ+ people in Fiji still face a lot of social discrimination, some are not so lucky because they experience it in their own families,” he said.
Davina Loloma wants to represent the most vulnerable people in Fiji. Source: SBS News / Lucy Murray
Vulavou said entrenched beliefs can be further fueled by those in power, pointing to comments made by Mr. Bainimarama in 2016. Mr. Bainimarama said same-sex marriage would not be legalized while he was in charge and
Two-thirds of Fijians identify as Christian, and while some churches have expressed support for marriage equality, most have not. The Pacific Council of Churches said there is no “one-size-fits-all approach” for its denominations and any changes to the laws require further discussion.
“Some of you may be happy with the result, others may not. Whatever your post-election disposition, this is a time to honor the democratic process by reflecting the outcome,” he told the assembled soldiers.
Voters line up to have their say in Fiji’s poll. Source: SBS News / Lucy Murray
This speech was carried across the country and was important, said Tess Newton Cain, head of the Pacific Center at Griffith University.
“Fiji is a highly militarized society, the military has a very high profile … his words will be heeded, not only by members of the military, but by society at large,” he said.
Fiji’s former prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka hopes to win the election. Source: SBS News / Lucy Murray
Dr Cain believes Bainimarama will not try to hold on to power through undemocratic means, having worked hard over the past decade to “regain and secure personal legitimacy” on the international stage as a climate advocate.
“Given his age and stage in life, I think he would be reluctant to give that up,” he said.
