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Local elections were held in Fiji on 5 November 1972, with voters electing members of the councils of Lautoka and Suva. They were the first local elections after the common electoral roll was introduced. [1]
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Local elections were held in Fiji on 5 November 1972, with voters electing members of the councils of Lautoka and Suva. They were the first local elections after the common electoral roll was introduced. [1]
In Suva, the Alliance Party won fourteen seats on the City Council and the National Federation Party six, with the Alliance Party's Peter Allan elected mayor.
In Lautoka, the National Federation Party won eight seats and the Alliance Party four, with the NFP's Hari Punja elected mayor. [1]
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
The Fiji Labour Party, also known as Fiji Labour, is a political party in Fiji. Most of its support is from the Indo-Fijian community, although it is officially multiracial and its first leader was an indigenous Fijian, Dr. Timoci Bavadra. The party has been elected to power twice, with Timoci Bavadra and Mahendra Chaudhry becoming prime minister in 1987 and 1999 respectively. On both occasions, the resulting government was rapidly overthrown by a coup.
The Alliance Party, was the ruling political party in Fiji from 1966 to 1987. Founded in the early 1960s, its leader was Kamisese Mara, the founding father of the modern Fijian nation. Widely seen as the political vehicle of the traditional Fijian chiefs, the Alliance Party also commanded considerable support among the Europeans and other ethnic minorities, who, although comprising only 3–4% of Fiji's population, were over represented in the parliament. Indo-Fijians were less supportive, but the Fijian-European block vote kept the Alliance Party in power for more than twenty years.
Irene Jai Narayan was an Indian-born teacher and politician, who had a significant influence on politics in Fiji. She came to Fiji in 1959 after marrying Jai Narayan, a well known school Principal in Suva, and began her career as a teacher. She taught in DAV Girls School and MGM High School in Suva before entering politics.
Siddiq Moidin Koya was a Fijian Indian politician, Statesman and Opposition leader. He succeeded to the leadership of the mostly Indo-Fijian National Federation Party (NFP) on the death of the party's founder, A. D. Patel, in October 1969, remaining in this post until 1977. He later served a second term as leader of the NFP, from 1984 to 1987.
The National Federation Party is a Fijian political party founded by A.D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Federation Party and the National Democratic Party. Though it claims to represent all Fiji Islanders, it is supported, in practice, almost exclusively by Indo-Fijians whose ancestors had come to Fiji between 1879 and 1916, mostly as indentured labourers. However, in the 2018 general election, the party recorded a considerable change in its support base due to the inclusion of more indigenous Fijian candidates.
Sir Vijay Raghubar Singh, KBE was an Indo-Fijian lawyer and politician who held Cabinet office in the 1960s and 1970s. Vijay Singh served in Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara's government in a variety of positions, including Attorney-General, and was president of the Indian Alliance, a division of the ruling Alliance Party. He quit the party in 1979 following disagreement with Alliance leadership and later joined the opposition National Federation Party. Vijay Singh was involved in the restructure of the Fiji sugar industry and was a leading member of the Jaycees movement in Fiji.
Ambalal Dahyabhai Patel, better known as A.D. Patel, was an Indo-Fijian politician, farmers' leader and founder and leader of the National Federation Party. Patel was uncompromisingly committed to a vision of an independent Fiji, with full racial integration. He was one of the first to advocate a republic, an ideal not realized in his lifetime. He also advocated a common voters' roll and opposed the communal franchise that characterized Fijian politics.
The Suva City Council is the municipal law-making body of the city of Suva, Fiji's capital. It consists of 20 Councillors, elected for three-year terms from four multi-member constituencies called wards. Councillors, who are elected by residents, landowners, and representatives of corporations owning or occupying ratable property in Suva, elect a Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor from among their own members; they serve one-year terms and are eligible for reelection. Since the dismissal of the councillors by the interim military government the City Council is run by a Special Administrator appointed by the Ministry of Local Government.
Local elections in Fiji are held for two cities and ten towns. Each city or town has a council comprising between 8 and 20 members, elected for three-year terms, although the government announced legislation on 15 February 2006 to extend the term to four years. Each city or town council elects from among its own members a Mayor for one year. Consecutive terms are permitted.
Local elections were held in Fiji in October 2002. The results allowed the three major political parties, Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL), the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) and the National Federation Party (NFP) to claim a victory of sorts. The elections, which take place every three years, were for two city councils and ten town councils throughout Fiji.
Local elections were held in Fiji on 22 October 2005 to elect the councils of eleven municipalities. In Suva, the elections for the Suva City Council were postponed until 12 November due to the death of two candidates; the death of a candidate in Lautoka also resulted in the postponement of the poll in one of the four wards.
Parveen Kumar Bala is a Fijian politician who served as the Minister for Employment, Productivity, Industrial Relations, Youth and Sports. He previously served as Mayor of the Fijian town of Ba, and subsequently as Special Administrator of Lautoka, Fiji. He is a former president of the Fiji Local Government Association.
Municipal elections were held in South Africa on 1 March 2006, to elect members to the local governing councils in the municipalities of South Africa. The municipalities form the local government of South Africa and are subdivisions of the provinces, thus making them responsible for local service delivery, such as electricity, water and fire services.
Ayodhya Prasad Sharma was an Indo-Fijian farmers' leader and politician. He formed the most successful farmers' union in Fiji and forced the Colonial Sugar Refining Company to make concessions to farmers after 60 years of total control over Fiji's economy. However, other Indo-Fijian leaders formed rival unions and his initial success was not repeated. He also served as a member of the Legislative Council between 1953 and 1959.
The National Congress of Fiji was a Fijian political party that existed from 1965 to 1967. It was created to represent Indo-Fijians as a rival to the Citizens Federation. It soon merged, along with the General Electors Association, which mainly represented Fijians of European descent, to form the Alliance Party.
The Federation Party was Fiji's first formal political party. The Citizens Federation, which had won three of the four seats reserved for Indo-Fijians at the 1963 elections, decided to formalize its role as a political party, which was officially founded on 21 June 1964 with A. D. Patel as President and Sidiq Koya as Vice-President. The merger took place in time for the party to participate in the 1965 constitutional conference which was called to map out a path towards independence from the United Kingdom. In 1968, the Federation Party merged with the National Democratic Party to form the National Federation Party, which is now (2021) the oldest political party in Fiji still in existence.
The number of Fiji Indians that could be elected to the Legislative Council was fixed over the years as follows:
This is a synopsis of organisations formed by Indians in Fiji. When they became free from the bondage of indenture and were able to organise themselves, they founded numerous organizations to seek social and political justice. These organisations promoted the teaching of Indian languages and religious practices and also to help others in time of need. Some of the successful organisations are listed below in the order in which they were established. Some, such as the National Federation Party, are no longer exclusively Indian, but are still predominantly so.
