Bainimarama leads in early Fiji results
Fiji's incumbent prime minister holds a slim lead over his nearest rival in early election results as two former military strongmen vie for control of the country's government.
Voters in the Pacific nation on Wednesday went to the polls for only the second time since Frank Bainimarama seized power in a military coup in 2006.
His FijiFirst Party is facing a challenge from the Social Democratic Liberal Party (Sodelpa), led by former prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka - who himself instigated two coups in 1987.
Provisional results released after 10pm (local time) on Wednesday night put FijiFirst at 50.37 per cent and Sodelpa at 40.19 per cent, with 521 out of 2170 polling stations and about 110,000 votes counted.
FijiFirst won 59 per cent of the vote in 2014.
There are six parties running this year for 51 proportionally allocated seats. The third-placed National Federation Party is on 6.88 per cent. Counting will continue through the night.
Heavy rain earlier wreaked havoc for election authorities.
The Fijian Election Office closed dozens of polling stations early throughout the day and more than 7000 affected voters are scheduled to get a chance at a later date.
Looming thunderstorms had been tipped to dampen turnout, and election supervisor Mohammed Saneem on Wednesday told reporters there had been worryingly low results in some areas during the morning.
More than 500,000 of the country's 920,000 residents had been expected to come out.
Police said no major incidents had been reported at stations.
Polling in the run-up suggested Mr Bainimarama's party was likely to win a second term, after campaigning on the back of a period of strong economic growth, relative political stability, and improved social services.
He also accused Mr Rabuka of stirring racism between the Indo-Fijian population - who broadly back FijiFirst - and the indigenous community (who make up nearly 60 per cent of the country) with some policies.
Opponents, meanwhile, branded Mr Bainimarama authoritarian and promised to raise the minimum wage. Mr Rabuka voiced concerns about the country's indebtedness to China.
Between Fiji's history of coups and the two former military leaders running, worries have also been raised about election day tensions.
Police tried to talk down those fears and deployed more than 2000 officers on Wednesday, while the military promised to respect the outcome.
Monitors in Fiji this week said they had seen no evidence of wrongdoing in the run-up and early voting, but were keeping a close eye on election day.
Mr Rabuka was questioned by police on Saturday night and only cleared on Monday afternoon to stand after a government appeal over his earlier acquittal on financial declaration charges with dismissed.
Taking power while head of the military in 2006, Mr Bainimarama allowed an election in 2014 and won in a landslide.
While his government moved closer to China in response to Western sanctions following the coup, Fiji's relationship with Australia has grown significantly stronger in recent years.
