(Bloomberg) -- Fiji’s long-time leader, Frank Bainimarama, failed to win a majority in elections held last week, leaving the Pacific island nation facing a hung parliament and a period of uncertainty as political parties look to form coalitions. 

Bainimarama’s Fiji First Party won 26 seats in the Dec. 14 vote, according to Fijilive.com and data from the Fiji Elections Office. That’s two short of the majority needed to form a government in the 55-member parliament. It typically takes days for final results to come in after the polls because ballots need to arrive from outlying islands. 

The People’s Alliance Party came in second with 21 seats, with the rest taken by other parties, including the Social Democratic Liberal Party, or Sodelpa, which won three. 

The result marks the first time since democratic elections resumed in Fiji in 2014 that Bainimarama’s party has failed to secure the majority needed to rule. He will need to woo at least one of the other parties into a coalition to maintain power, according to Radio New Zealand International.

Bainimarama has led Fiji since 2006, when the then-army chief seized power in a military coup. He became prime minister in 2014 when Fiji First won a clear majority in elections held after years of pressure from the international community to return the former British colony and tourist haven to democracy. Bainimarama won again in 2018, albeit with a smaller majority.

Given the People’s Alliance is already aligned with the National Federation Party, Sodelpa will likely decide who forms government, Fijilive said. Officials from the party are already meeting with representatives of the other three parties, according to the news site. 

Sodelpa was formed in 2013 after Bainimarama introduced new rules that required all political parties to register their names in English. It was previously known as Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua, or SDL, and led the government Bainimarama ousted in December 2006. 

A cluster of islands between Hawaii and New Zealand, Fiji’s idyllic image as a magnet for vacationers and brands like Fiji Water, is at odds with its tumultuous political history. Bainimarama’s was the fourth coup since 1987, and saw the military’s power even further entrenched. Fiji’s economy took a hit during the pandemic as global travel was paralyzed, and the country has just this year started to welcome back tourists. 

Bainimarama’s rule has seen Fiji move closer to China, as President Xi Jinping seeks to build allies in a region strategic to the US. The coup and its aftermath also saw cooling relations with Fiji’s traditional allies, Australia and New Zealand, giving Beijing an opening. The country has benefited from China’s Belt and Road diplomatic and aid initiative. 

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.