Davendra Singh

Last updated
Davendra Singh
Member of House of Representatives (Fiji)
Lautoka Indian Communal Constituency
In office
1985–1987
Preceded byJai Ram Reddy
Succeeded byVinubhai Patel
North Western Indian National Constituency
In office
1987–1987
Preceded byJai Raj Singh
Succeeded byConstitution abrogated
Personal details
BornBa, Fiji
Political partyNational Federation Party, Fiji Labour Party
ResidenceAuckland, New Zealand
ProfessionBusinessman

Davendra Singh (born 1950) was a Fiji Indian small businessman and politician who came into prominence when he challenged and defeated the official National Federation Party (NFP) candidate in a by-election in March 1985.

The Lautoka Indian Communal seat became vacant in April 1984 following the resignation of the former leader of the NFP, Jai Ram Reddy. When a supporter of Sidiq Koya from Ba, Dr Balwant Singh Rakkha, was selected to contest the by-election by the NFP, Davendra Singh, who was a virtual unknown, saw his chance at political glory. He managed to persuade the NFP Youth Wing, which had earlier been shunned by Koya, to support him to oppose Rakkha. He demanded that a local person be selected by NFP for the vacant seat but when he was ignored by the Party, he nominated himself for the election. (The by-election was delayed due to damage caused by a hurricane.) He had the support of the former Flower faction and also claimed Reddy's support. For his part, Reddy did not openly campaign for either candidate. During the campaign, Koya turned the election into a referendum on himself, and threatened to resign if Rakkha lost. The result was a narrow win for Singh by 2209 votes to Rakkha's 2196 votes in an election in which only 4421 of the 12,260 registered voters cast their votes. Koya did not go ahead with his threat to resign but challenged the results in the Supreme Court of Fiji, which confirmed Singh's election. The election result triggered a series of events which led to the decline of the NFP and the rise of the Fiji Labour Party (FLP).

For a while, Singh sat as an independent member in the House of Representatives, but in September 1985 he attempted to merge the NFP Youth Wing with the newly formed Fiji Labour Party, which the FLP refused because it would not allow group affiliation. Finally in July 1986 he joined the FLP. He contested the 1987 election as an FLP endorsed candidate and easily won the North Western National seat. [1] He was one of the parliamentarians taken captive during the coup of 1987.

He has since migrated to New Zealand and runs a catering business in Auckland.

Related Research Articles

Mahendra Chaudhry

The Rt. Hon. Mahendra Chaudhry is an Fijian and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party. Following a historic election in which he defeated the long-time former leader, Sitiveni Rabuka, the former trade union leader became Fiji's first Indo-Fijian Prime Minister on 19 May 1999, but exactly one year later, on 19 May 2000 he and most of his Cabinet were taken hostage by coup leader George Speight, in the Fiji coup of 2000. Unable to exercise his duties, he and his ministers were sacked by President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara on 27 May; Mara intended to assume emergency powers himself but was himself deposed by the military leader, Commodore Frank Bainimarama. After 56 days in captivity, Chaudhry was released on 13 July and subsequently embarked on a tour of the world to rally support. He was one of the leading voices raised in opposition to the Qarase government's proposed Reconciliation and Unity Commission, which he said was just a mechanism to grant amnesty to persons guilty of coup-related offences. In January 2007 he was appointed as Minister of Finance, Sugar Reform Public Enterprise and National Planning in the interim Cabinet of Commodore Frank Bainimarama, following another coup. Chaudhry was also co-chair of the task force focusing on economic growth within the National Council for Building a Better Fiji. In August 2008, he left the government and became an outspoken critic of it.

Fiji Labour Party

The Fiji Labour Party (FLP) 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.

Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua

The United Fiji Party was a political party in Fiji. It was founded in 2001 by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase as a power base; it absorbed most of the Christian Democratic Alliance and other conservative groups, and its endorsement by the Great Council of Chiefs (Bose Levu Vakaturaga) caused it to be widely seen as the successor to the Alliance Party, the former ruling party that had dominated Fijian politics from the 1960s to the 1980s. It draws its support mainly from indigenous Fijiians.

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 (1924–1993) 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.

September 1977 Fijian general election

Early general elections were held in Fiji between 17 and 24 September 1977. They followed elections in March which resulted in a hung parliament and no party able to gain a majority. The new election resulted in a landslide win for the Alliance Party (Fiji) led by Prime Minister Kamisese Mara, which won 36 seats out of 52. It was aided by a split in the main opposition, the National Federation Party (NFP) and a decline in support for the Fijian Nationalist Party.

National Federation Party

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 claimed to represent all Fiji Islanders, it was supported, in practice, almost exclusively by Indo-Fijians whose ancestors had come to Fiji, mostly as indentured labourers, between 1879 and 1916. However, in the 2018 General elections the party recorded a considerable change in its support base as a consequent of the inclusion of more indigenous Fijian candidates.

1977 Fijian constitutional crisis

Fiji's parliamentary election of March 1977 precipitated a constitutional crisis, which was the first major challenge to the country's democratic institutions since independence in 1970.

2005 Fijian local elections

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.

Mohammed Tahir is a former Fijian politician of Indian descent. He represented the Labasa Rural Indian Communal Constituency, one of 19 reserved for Indo-Fijians, which he retained for the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) in a byelection held on 6 December 2003 to succeed the late Mohammed Latif Subedar.

Western United Front

Western United Front (WUF) was an ethnically Fijian political party formed prior to the 1982 elections and contested the election in coalition with the National Federation Party.

James Shankar Singh, MBE was a Fiji Indian farmer, businessman, social worker and politician who served as a Minister in the Alliance Government of Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. Like many Fiji Indian politicians of the era, he joined the Alliance Party with a belief in mutiracialism, but was disappointed with the Alliance Party's appeal to Fijian nationalism after 1977 and left the Alliance to join the National Federation Party.

Karam Chand Ramrakha is a former Fiji Indian lawyer, union leader and politician, who served in colonial Fiji's Legislative Council and independent Fiji's House of Representatives from 1966 to 1982.

The Dove Faction was one of the factions of the National Federation Party (NFP) to contest the September 1977 elections in Fiji.

The Flower Faction was one of the factions of the National Federation Party (NFP) to contest the September 1977 elections in Fiji.

The number of Fiji Indians that could be elected to the Legislative Council was fixed over the years as follows:

Charan Jeath Singh is a Fiji Indian who has been involved in local Government and national politics in Fiji representing various political organisations.

Balwant Singh Rakkha was a Fiji Indian medical doctor and a member of the House of Representatives of Fiji representing the National Federation Party (NFP), but he is best known for his strong support for the former leader of the NFP, Sidiq Koya and the split caused within the NFP when he was rewarded by Koya for his loyalty by being given a seat in a constituency where he was a virtual unknown.

Shiromaniam Madhavan, son of a founding member of the National Federation Party (NFP), was a Fiji Indian politician who served in the Labasa Town Council and the House of Representatives. He contested numerous elections for different political parties.

References

  1. Howard, Michael (1991). Fiji: Race and politics in an island state . Vancouver: UBC Press. p.  378. ISBN   0-7748-0368-1.