OPEN LETTER FROM MADS ANNEBERG:
To the fantastic people of Fiji:
I believe this was one of those days when memories will stay with you for a long time.
A day that, despite having the characteristics of any other day - with a beginning and an end - will go on to be more than that.
People will remember if they ticked, crossed or circled their ballot paper. Where they voted and whether they waited.
People will remember because, hopefully, this day marks a new era for Fiji.
This was not my election and I had no vote. Still I will remember for years to come how I ended up spending most of September 17 on a tiny island in Rewa, drinking SODELPA leader Ro Teimumu Kepa’s kava.
Having been in Fiji for more than a week, I was hardly surprised when my day began with waiting three hours for Voreqe Bainimarama.
Election picture
The former interim, now elected, Prime Minister was voting at Vatuwaqa Primary School, and a picture of him voting should sum up the past, present and future of this election and be worth the wait.
Like most places, there was a massive queue in the morning. Meticulously, voters would make their way up the stairs and turn left or right by surname.
A lady in a wheelchair entered the premises and caused a moment of confusion with the staff, but helpful, smiling and pragmatic as most other Fijians, they let the ballot travel the stairs instead of her.
Multinational observers stopped by without remarks, and the Commissioner of Police came and told of a calm day in general.
So powerful was the positive spirit of this day that when Bainimarama finally did show up, he smiled, interacted with the media and was as charismatic as ever.
He said he was confident he would win. The fact that he would win certainly turned out to be true, and maybe so was his confidence.
I headed back to the media centre and had it been any other place than in Fiji, I probably would have stayed put and updated the website.
Polling run
But instead we rented a car, my editor, I and two others, and headed out of Suva. We went to one polling station at a high school in Nausori and one polling station in what appeared to be nothing, however also in Nausori.
This magic day led us further away from the capital in which its winners will soon gather. We wanted to visit Ro Teimumu’s polling station in Rewa.
Kilometers flew by and asphalt turned to gravel before we finally reached the place where a man in a motorised row boat would take us to the small island where she lives.
We learned that Ro Teimumu had just left, which sort of defeated the original purpose of our trip. But after visiting the two polling stations on the island, we got the second best thing.
In the spirit of the day - and maybe in a last, blackout-approved effort of campaigning - she had been handing out kava to the community which we were invited in for.
In a house with a high spirits, where the floor served as both floor and furniture, a handful of happy voters had gathered to celebrate.
There is hardly any point in telling you that this was an opposition SODELPA stronghold, with a few Fiji First supporters as well, because that was not the point. People were celebrating that they had voted, that they had been heard.
Sidewalk spiderweb
After several hours and God knows how many bowls of nature’s anti-Red Bull, we cautiously walked back. Along with the polling stations, sunlight was closed for business, and someone graciously led us back to the boat through the darkness on a spiderweb of sidewalks. Which were obviously not aside any road, making them just walks.
I am no expert, but I felt this day had been the perfect window through which to look at the election and even a very Fijian way of spending Election Day. And I mean that in the most positive way imaginable.
I am afraid we have lost much of our enthusiasm surrounding elections in Denmark. Not that we don’t vote and not that we don’t celebrate this day of democracy.
But over the years, everyone has simply come to agree on so many things that our vote cannot bring around two different tomorrows, which, I guess, decreases the genuine excitement of having your say.
You, however. Even though your decision time and again has been overruled by an interfering power, you seem to - rightfully - believe in your impact.
In that particular house on that small island in that remote area, everyone was proudly holding up their inked pinkies, singing songs to celebrate their vote.
In my short time here, the Fijian people have inspired me in many ways - some more than you know. And your election is no exception. You are nailing this democracy thing and I can only hope the people you have chosen today will do the same.
Yours truly,
Vinaka vakalevu
Mads
A Pacific Media Centre intern from Repúblika Magazine in Suva, Fiji
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand Licence.
Mads Anneberg
