This reports on a study commissioned by UNIFEM’s Women in Politics Programme. The objectives were to assist in developing a more facilitating environment for Fiji women’s political participation and to assess which electoral system would give women candidates a greater chance of winning elections in Fiji. The literature search revealed that there was a close correlation between Proportional Representation (PR) systems and high representation of women in elected parliaments. It also showed that in Plurality Majority (PM) systems, women’s participation is generally low. Fiji’s system is the Alternate Vote (AV) system, which is a PM system. Success for women candidates in Fiji has been mixed. Family support was found to be a feature. Difficulties included securing finance. The report advocates for investigating a review of Fiji’s electoral system and seriously consider changing to a PR system.
