Fijian general election, 1963

Last updated March 31, 2019

General elections were held in Fiji between 17 April and 4 May 1963. For the first time, indigenous Fijians were given the right to vote alongside the European and Indo-Fijian population.

Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean about 1,100 nautical miles northeast of New Zealand's North Island. Its closest neighbours are Vanuatu to the west, New Caledonia to the southwest, New Zealand's Kermadec Islands to the southeast, Tonga to the east, the Samoas and France's Wallis and Futuna to the northeast, and Tuvalu to the north. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which 110 are permanently inhabited—and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of about 18,300 square kilometres (7,100 sq mi). The most outlying island is Ono-i-Lau. The two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, account for 87% of the total population of 898,760. The capital, Suva, on Viti Levu, serves as the country's principal cruise-ship port. About three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levu's coasts, either in Suva or in smaller urban centres such as Nadi—where tourism is the major local industry—or Lautoka, where the sugar-cane industry is paramount. Due to its terrain, the interior of Viti Levu is sparsely inhabited.

Electoral system

In 1963, the first significant changes were carried out to the composition of the Legislative Council of Fiji since 1937. The Council was expanded to 37 members, of which 19 were official members (usually heads of Government departments) and 18 unofficial members, retaining the official majority. Of the unofficial members, 12 were elected, four from each of the Fijian, Indian and European groups; the four Fijian and Indian members were elected from single member constituencies, whilst the European electorate had two single-member constituencies (Northern and Suva) and one two-member constituency (Southern). The Governor nominated a further two members from each of the communities. The Legislative Councillors of each race were permitted to select two of their members to the Executive Council.

The Fijian Legislative Council was the colonial precursor to the present-day Parliament, which came into existence when Fiji became independent on 10 October 1970.

Fijians are a nation and ethnic group native to Fiji, who speak Fijian and share a common history and culture.

Qualifications to register as a voter were as follows:

British subject
Age of twenty-one years or over
Resident in the colony for a period of, or periods amounting in the aggregate of, not less than twelve months out of the preceding three years.
Ability to read and write a simple sentence and sign one’s name in the English language in the case of a European, in either English or Fijian in the case of a Fijian, and for an Indian either in English, Hindi, Urdu, Tamil, Telugu, Gurmukhi, Gujarati or Malayalam. "European" and "Indian" were defined as a person whose father or any of whose male progenitors in the male line was a European or Indian, respectively, while a "Fijian" was defined as "a person whose father or any of whose progenitors in the male line ... was an aboriginal native of the colony, excluding the island of Rotuma and its dependencies."

The term British subject has had several different meanings over time. It currently refers to a class of British nationality applicable only to people born before 1949 and are either from the Republic of Ireland or who had been considered "British subjects without citizenship". The latter group consists of people connected with former British colonies who did not acquire citizenship of those countries on independence. Individuals with this nationality are British nationals and Commonwealth citizens, but not British citizens. The status cannot be transferred by descent and is also lost if any other citizenship is acquired.

English is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in early medieval England and eventually became a global lingua franca. It is named after the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes that migrated to the area of Great Britain that later took their name, as England. Both names derive from Anglia, a peninsula in the Baltic Sea. The language is closely related to Frisian and Low Saxon, and its vocabulary has been significantly influenced by other Germanic languages, particularly Norse, and to a greater extent by Latin and French.

Hindi, or Modern Standard Hindi is a standardised and Sanskritised register of the Hindustani language. Hindi, written in the Devanagari script, is one of the official languages of India, along with the English language. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of the Republic of India. However, it is not the national language of India because no language was given such a status in the Indian constitution.

Although ethnic Fijians and women gained the right to vote, illiterate adults were not permitted to vote. Some people could choose between ethnic rolls and no provision was made for Rotumans, Pacific Islanders, Chinese and part-Chinese to vote. Voter registration took place between 1 July and 30 September 1962,^[1] with 52,935 Fijians, 36,137 Indians and 4,526 Europeans registering.^[2]

The Rotumans are the indigenous inhabitants of Rotuma, a small island group forming part of the Republic of Fiji. The island itself is a cultural melting pot at the crossroads of the Micronesian, Melanesian and Polynesian divisions of the Pacific Ocean, and due to the seafaring nature of traditional Pacific cultures, the indigenous Rotuman have adopted or share many aspects of its multifaceted culture with its Melanesian, Micronesian and Polynesian neighbours.

Pacific Islanders or Pasifikas, are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. It is a geographic and often ethnic/racial term to describe the inhabitants of any of the three major sub-regions of Oceania: Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia. These people speak various Austronesian languages. New Zealand has the largest concentration of Pacific Islanders in the world. However, the majority of its people are not identified as Pacific Islanders—instead during the 20th century and into the 21st century the country saw a steady stream of immigration from Polynesian countries such as Samoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands, Niue and French Polynesia.

Chinese people are the various individuals or ethnic groups associated with China, usually through ancestry, ethnicity, nationality, citizenship or other affiliation. Han Chinese, the largest ethnic group in China, at about 92% of the population, are often referred to as "Chinese" or "ethnic Chinese" in English, however there are dozens of other related and unrelated ethnic groups in China.

There was also a number of changes to qualifications for candidates to run for office. Indian and European civil servants were prohibited from nominating as candidates, but this provision did not apply to Fijians as there were few qualified Fijians outside the civil service. Candidates were required, not only to be eligible to be registered as a voter, but to be actually registered. This provision disqualified Ayodhya Prasad as he was out of the country during the registration period.

Ayodhya Prasad Sharma, 30 April 1909 – 28 February 1972) was an Indo-Fijian farmers' leader and politician, who 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.

Campaign

Most candidates contested the election as independents, although the Citizens Federation (which became the Federation Party in 1964) endorsed A. D. Patel, S.M. Koya and James Madhavan, while the Kisan Sangh endorsed Deo Sharma, James Shankar Singh and Harsih Chandra Kohli respectively as their opponents. The Western Democratic Party nominated Apisai Tora and Isikeli Nadalo, both for the Western Fijian Constituency. Isikei Nadalo was also endorsed by Fijian National Party.

An independent or nonpartisan politician is an individual politician not affiliated with any political party. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent.

The Citizens Federation was the political expression of a predominantly Indo-Fijian trade union movement, and was a forerunner of the present day 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.

Results

There were two significant outcomes of the elections; the secret ballot amongst Fijians led to the consolidation of the power of the Fijian establishment, notably in the Western Fijian Constituency, where the Tovata high chief, Ratu Penaia Ganilau won by 7,347 votes against local commoners Apisai Tora (1,496 votes) and Isikeli Nadalo (659 votes). In the Indian community, voters in the sugar cane districts clearly endorsed the policies of the Federation led by A.D. Patel over those of the Kisan Sangh, by electing its three candidates; A.D. Patel defeated Deo Sharma by 6,244 votes to 3,346 votes, S.M. Koya defeated James Shankar Singh by 3,998 votes to 3,480 votes and James Madhavan defeated Harish Chandra Kohli by 2,753 vote to 2,175 votes.

Constituency	Candidate	Votes	Notes
European seats
Northern (876 registered)	F.G. Archibald	358	Elected
Northern (876 registered)	Harold Gibson	341
Southern (969 registered)	John Kearsley	388	Elected
	Douglas Brown	375
	Archibald Gardner	25
Suva (1,634 registered)	Neil Falvey	Uncontested	Elected
Western (1,047 registered)	Ronald Kermode	573	Elected
Western (1,047 registered)	Samuel Berwick	296
Source: Meller & Anthony

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James Madhavan was one of the longest serving politicians in Fiji. He initially was a primary school teacher but when the Maha Sangh was formed in Labasa was one of its earliest members. Unlike, Viti Levu where it was mainly supported by South Indians, the Maha Sangh in Labasa had support from a wide cross-section of the Fiji Indian community. James Madhavan was able to use this to propel himself into the Legislative Council.

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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 helped others in time of need. Some of the successful organisations are listed below in order in which they were established. Some, such as the National Federation Party, are no longer exclusively Indian, but are still predominantly so.

References

↑ Norman Meller & James Anthony (1968) Fiji Goes to the Polls: The Crucial Legislative Council Elections of 1963, East-West Center Press, p21
↑ Meller & Anthony, p28

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[1] Norman Meller & James Anthony (1968) Fiji Goes to the Polls: The Crucial Legislative Council Elections of 1963, East-West Center Press, p21

[2] Meller & Anthony, p28