Fiji Elections

The government announced on Sunday afternoon Fiji's president had dissolved the parliament on the advice of the prime minister in accordance with Fiji's constitution.

FBC News reports the election writ is expected to be issued on Monday and an election date of November 14 has been set, although there has been no official announcement.

It will be Fiji's second election since the 2006 military takeover by Frank Bainimarama who won a landslide victory in the 2014 polls under a new electoral system brought in with the 2013 Constitution.

Under Fiji's election system introduced for the 2014 election, candidates are only identified on the ballot paper by a number.

This year the numbers will start from 508.

The chairperson of the Electoral Commission Suresh Chandra said concerns were raised about including 666 when it was realised it fell within the range being allocated to candidates this year.

Mr Chandra said the commission had a thorough discussion about it, consulting political parties and other stakeholders over the issue.

Fiji is due to hold an election by next year.

Tebbutt Research conducted the poll of 1001 adults in conjunction with the Fiji Times early last month.

People were asked what the top three election issues would be looking forward to the 2018 elections.

The Fiji Times reported the cost of living was ranked the number one issue by 46 percent of those polled, followed by employment with 32 percent of those polled.

The newspaper reported the results showed tremendous uniformity across the nation, no matter people's gender, age, ethnicity or location.

The chairman of the Fiji Electoral Commission, Suresh Chandra, says there will be 51 seats next year after the population grew and another seat is needed to maintain a similar ratio of seats to voters.

Mr Chandra says this is the first time in the country's history that the Commission has been empowered by the Constitution to alter the number of seats in parliament.

Photo: Fiji Parliament