Josaia Voreqe "Frank" Bainimarama is seeking to extend his prime ministership by another four years come polling day on Wednesday.
A victory will take Bainimarama to two decades at the top of Fijian politics after he instigated a coup in 2006 and installed himself as prime minister the year after.
He took FijiFirst to a democratic election in 2014 and won, but his majority was cut to 50.02 per cent at the 2018 poll.
Biman Prasad says Bainmarama's negligence has been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and people are no longer fearful of his government.
Prasad leads the National Federation Party, which is working with the People's Alliance party, headed by former prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka, to dispel the incumbent FijiFirst.
He says Fiji's pandemic management was propped up by Australia and New Zealand donating vaccines and medical aid as well as remittances sent from overseas relatives.
He adds that roads, healthcare and poverty have all gone backwards.
"(FijiFirst) couldn't look after its people. It cannot provide them health. It cannot provide them jobs" he told AAP.
"People understand the extent of the problems in the country and they're fed up with the dictatorship, lack of freedoms."
Prasad says there's less fear of the Bainimarama government and its perceived links to the military than in 2018 after the military commander told his soldiers to respect the democratic process.
"This is a time for us to honour the democratic process by respecting the outcome of the votes," local media quoted Major General Ro Jone Kalouniwai as telling his soldiers this week.
"We must remember that in not doing so, you become complicit in allowing injustice to prevail over the most vulnerable of our people. Nothing is more integral in democracy than voting."
Prasad said the commander's comments "further excited the people".
"They saw there is no threat of a coup and they're flocking to NFP and People's Alliance," he said.
Prasad and his party's president Pio Tikoduadua - a former cabinet minister under Bainimarama - accuse the prime minister of continuing his dictatorship and weaponising the Fijian Independent Commission Against Corruption against opposition politicians.
Tikoduadua told a community gathering on Sunday that FijiFirst had been "shoving itself down people's throats", and Prasad said "draconian" laws had been enacted to favour the government at the election.
FijiFirst is relying on Bainimarama's economic credentials and "stable and strong" leadership through COVID-19 to keep him in power, painting the opposition as a risk to the economy and society.
Bainimarama points to the nation's strong tourism-led economic recovery and says his stewardship oversees greater access to education and electricity as well as better health services and road infrastructure.
FijiFirst says the growing economy isn't because of outside help, but rather "by making the right calls at the right times".
It pointed to the virus staying out of Fiji for a year and more than $500 million in unemployment and other benefits paid out during the pandemic.
Bainimarama is also taking aim at opposition parties, saying they have nothing to offer but "hatred for the government".
"Bitterness cannot build a country," he said on a social media video on Sunday.
He accused People's Alliance leader Rabuka, who also conducted a coup in 1987, of being the same "snake".
"He is after the exact same thing he was in 1987. Power. Power for him, and power for his business friends."
This article was made possible through the Melbourne Press Club's Michael Gordon Journalism Fellowship Program.
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