16 Nov 2022

Fiji election 2022: 342 candidates to contest elections

9:37 am on 16 November 2022
Fijian Elections Office.

Fiji election office Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Koroi Hawkins

342 candidates from nine political parties and two independents have received the green light from the Fijian elections office to contest in the December 14 polls.

Twelve candidates have been rejected and two have withdrawn.

Election's supervisor Mohammed Saneem said his office received a total of 356 nominations after candidate nominations closed on Monday.

Saneem said four parties submitted nominations for 55 candidates, which included FijiFirst, SODELPA, the People's Alliance and the National Federation Party.

Fiji's Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem.

Election's supervisor Mohammed Saneem Photo: RNZ Pacific/Koroi Hawkins

The ruling FijiFirst party and the People's Alliance have all its 55 candidates confirmed to contest the 2022 elections, while the National Federation Party and SODELPA have 54 candidates approved.

The Fiji Labour Party has 42 approved candidates, Unity Fiji has 38, We Unite Fiji has 20, All Peoples Party has 14, and New Generation Party has 5.

"In this election, there are 56 females who have been nominated, and there are 287 males that will be contesting the election. In comparison in 2018, we have 56 females and 179 males. So the male-to-female ratio is 83 percent are males and 16 percent females," Saneem said.

There will be two independent candidates - both males.

The number of people contesting the polls is higher than in the 2018 election - which had 235 candidates.