Coup leader Voreqe Bainimarama was on today on the verge of sweeping a historic vote to become Fiji's first elected leader in eight years, as international observers gave the ballot a stamp of approval.
With 70 percent of the vote counted following Wednesday's poll, Bainimarama's Fiji First Party had 60.1 percent, well clear of its nearest rival, the Social Democratic Liberal Party (Sodelpa) on 26.7.
"This was a credible election," said a statement from the 92-member panel drawn from 13 countries around the world as well as the European Union.
"While counting is ongoing and the results are yet to be finalised, we assess that the outcome is on track to broadly represent the will of the Fijian voters."
The election was conducted "in an atmosphere of calm, with an absence of electoral misconduct or evident intimidation."
Pacific regional powerhouses Australia and New Zealand, who led global condemnation of Bainimarama following the coup, described the ballot as a "significant event".
"All early indications are that the conditions were in place for the people of Fiji to exercise their right to vote freely," New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said.
His Australian counterpart Julie Bishop said Canberra "looks forward to working with the new Fiji Government when it is formed."
Although Bainimarama was accused of human rights abuses and the Pacific nation subjected to international sanctions after he seized control in a 2006 coup, Brij Lal, a Fiji political analyst based at the Australian National University, said the outcome was no surprise.
"He had all the advantages of incumbency, name recognition, a public profile, media on his side, campaigning on the public purse, and a desire on the part of the voters for stability, which he promised," Lal told AFP.
But despite the country returning to democracy, the military maintain a strong presence and opposition parties cancelled an election review planned during the day after soldiers turned up.
