Political career
Singh was elected the Mayor of Labasa representing the Ratepayers' Association in 1992 [4] but in the municipal elections of 2005 his Association lost in a landslide result to the Fiji Labour Party (FLP),winning only two seats.
In the 1994 general election,he won the Macuata West Indian Communal Constituency for the National Federation Party (NFP). [5] In the 1999 general election he contested the Labasa Indian Communal Constituency for the UNLP but managed to get only 10% of the votes cast. Following the death of the sitting member,he contested the Labasa Rural Indian Communal Constituency in December 2003 for the National Federation Party (NFP). [6] During the election campaign Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry accused Singh of supporting the 2000 Fijian coup d'état. [7] Singh sued for defamation, [8] beginning a long-running suit. The case was eventually settled in January 2012 with a declaration that Singh did not support the coup in any way. [9]
In the 2006 general election,he contested the Vanua Levu West Indian Communal Constituency,Fiji) for the National Alliance Party (NAPF) and again lost with only 14% of the votes cast. [10]
Following the 2006 Fijian coup d'état he criticised the military regime's detention of journalists, [11] and was arrested by the regime for criticising Mahendra Chaudhry,who at the time was collaborating as interim finance minister. [12] [13] He later formed the Fiji People’s Party in the expectation of contesting eventual elections. [14] In 2013 he supported the regime's Political parties Decree,which effectively banned small parties, [15] [16] and called for the mandatory death penalty for treason to deter future coups. [17] He supported the regime's 2013 constitution. [18] He later applied to be a FijiFirst candidate for the 2014 election but was rejected. [19]
He contested the 2018 election as an NFP candidate, [1] [20] but was unsuccessful.
In March 2022 he resigned from the NFP and joined the People's Alliance. [21] He later said that he wanted to show that the PA was not a racist party but a multiracial team. [22]
He contested the 2022 election as a PA candidate [23] and was elected [24] with 5616 votes. [25] On 24 December 2022 he was appointed Minister for Multi-Ethnic Affairs in the coalition government of Sitiveni Rabuka. [26] He was also appointed Minister for Sugar. One of his first actions as a Minister was to invite Mahendra Chaudhry to chair the board of the Fiji Sugar Corporation. [27]
In January 2026 he was appointed Minister of Public Enterprises in a cabinet reshuffle. [28]
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