Editorial: Good losers show us how lucky we are

Fijian voters line up at a polling station in Suva, Fiji. Photo / AP

Opinion

A disputed election result in Fiji is a reminder of something that countries such as ours with a long democratic tradition take for granted. We suffer not the slightest doubt that if there is a clear result of our election today, all parties will accept it. Apart from an occasional demand for a recount in seats where the numbers are very close, the election will not be challenged. It is worth pausing to consider how remarkable this is.

Politics is not a game. Those who bid for power are utterly convinced they understand our needs and national interests better than their rivals. They have invested weeks, months, years of effort in most cases, to make their appeal to the voters today. None of them finds it easy to believe that the majority of voters might not see the merits of their argument and programme as clearly as they do. But if the election says otherwise, so be it.

In places where democracy has not taken root it is a hard plant to establish, partly because those who lose elections are too ready to challenge the integrity of the poll. Too often they are right. Autocratic rulers who submit to an election are quite likely to decide their merit, or their self-interest, justifies undermining the ballot. The likelihood is so great that accusations against them of electoral fraud always have credibility. If the delicate flower is to be nurtured it cannot afford those accusations to be made without cause.

On Wednesday, Fiji held its first election on a hard road back to democracy. Former coup leader Frank Bainimarama leads a political party which appeared to have won 60 per cent of the vote before all the ballots had been counted.

An international group of election observers says it has seen no evidence of fraud. Yet the five other parties contesting the election announced on Thursday they would not accept the result, alleging vote rigging.

They claimed to have seen ballot boxes removed from polling stations without being counted, and large envelopes in boxes that could only have been put there once the box had been opened.

They were presenting their evidence to the Fijian Elections Office yesterday.

There are two reasons to doubt their accusations. One is the presence of dispassionate international monitors, the other is the popularity of Mr Bainimarama, reported by many visitors to Fiji in recent years.

But he is in no position to argue with the charges. Having come to power by military coup, Mr Bainimarama is only part way to proving his democratic credentials. Calling the election was the first step. Wisely, he has said nothing yet in response to his opponents' attempt to discredit the poll.

If Mr Bainimarama has won the election fairly and forms a legitimate government at last, Fiji will be well on the way back to democracy. But the ultimate test will come when Mr Bainimarama's time is up. Would he accept an election defeat and hand power to the winner?

The peaceful voluntary transfer of power is the feature of democracy that people unused to it find most remarkable. We who take it for granted should pause to be grateful to the heritage and institutions that maintain it, and to politicians who respect results that go against them.

They serve a higher principle than victory. They deserve to be honoured tonight.