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.
Since becoming independent of the United Kingdom in 1970, Fiji has had four constitutions, and the voting system has changed accordingly.
Chapter 6: The Parliament.Chapter 6 of the Fiji Constitution is titled The Parliament. The five Parts, further subdivided into forty sections making up this chapter, set out the composition, functions, and powers of Fiji's bicameral legislature.
The Colony of Fiji was a Crown colony that existed from 1874 to 1970 in the territory of the present-day nation of Fiji. London declined its first opportunity to annex the Kingdom of Fiji in 1852. Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau had offered to cede the islands, subject to being allowed to retain his Tui Viti title. His demand was unacceptable to both the British and to many of his fellow chiefs, who regarded him only as first among equals, if that. Mounting debts and threats from the United States Navy had led Cakobau to establish a constitutional monarchy with a government dominated by European settlers in 1871, following an agreement with the Australian Polynesia Company to pay his debts. The collapse of the new regime drove him to make another offer of cession in 1872, which the British accepted. On 10 October 1874, Britain began its rule of Fiji, which lasted until 10 October 1970.
General elections were held in Fiji between 26 September and 8 October 1966, the last before independence in 1970 and the first held under universal suffrage. The result was a victory for the Alliance Party, which won 23 of the 34 elected seats. Its leader Kamisese Mara became the country's first Chief Minister the following year.
Communal constituencies were the most durable feature of the Fijian electoral system. In communal constituencies, electors enrolled as ethnic Fijians, Indo-Fijians, Rotuman Islanders, or General electors vote for a candidate of their own respective ethnic groups, in constituencies that have been reserved by ethnicity. Other methods of choosing parliamentarians came and went, but this feature was a constant until their final abolition in the 2013 Constitution.
National constituencies were a former feature of the Fijian electoral system. They were created as a compromise between demands for universal suffrage on a common voters' roll, and for a strictly communal franchise, with Parliamentary constituencies allocated on an ethnic basis and elected only by voters enrolled as members of specific ethnic groups.
Fiji was an independent state from 1970 to 1987, a Commonwealth realm in which the British monarch, Elizabeth II, remained head of state as Queen of Fiji, represented by the Governor-General. The state was the successor of the British Colony of Fiji which was given independence in October 1970 and it survived until the Republic of Fiji was proclaimed on 6 October 1987 after two military coups, at which time Queen Elizabeth II was removed as head of state. During this time, Fiji's highest court was the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which was above the Supreme Court of Fiji in the Fijian judicial system.
Kunwar Bachint Singh was an Indo-Fijian teacher and politician. He arrived in Fiji in 1927 as a teacher for the Arya Samaj but his association with Vishnu Deo led him to play an active role in aggressively promoting the Arya Samaj and finally into politics. He was elected into the Legislative Council as a protégé of Vishnu Deo but after the election took an independent stance opposed to the wishes of the majority of the Indo-Fijians. He supported nominated rather than elected representation, actively supported the war effort and even attempted to set up a farmers union opposed to a number of existing unions. The Government rewarded him for his loyalty by nominating him into the Legislative Council three times, appointing him as a Justice of the Peace and as the first Indo-Fijian member of the Executive Council.
The colonial Governors of Fiji relied on the Executive Council for advice on proposals for legislation which, after being discussed in the Executive Council meetings, came before the Legislative Council in the form of bills. In this way, the Executive Council was the chief policy-making body and performed cabinet-like functions, but being advisory, was not yet a cabinet in function. This role changed in 1964 with the introduction of the membership system.
General elections were held in Fiji between 17 April and 4 May 1963. For the first time, women and indigenous Fijians were given the right to vote alongside the male European and Indo-Fijian population.
Andrew Indar Narayan Deoki was an Indo-Fijian statesman who served his community as a social and religious leader, soccer administrator, member of the Legislative Council and Senate in independent Fiji and as Attorney General.
Muniswamy Mudaliar was an Indo-Fijian politician who was a member of the Legislative Council from 1932 to 1937. In 1933 he became Fiji's first Indo-Fijian Justice of the Peace.
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.
Sir Francis Derek Jakeway was a British colonial administrator, who was instrumental in preparing several British colonies for self-government, and who played a key role in preparing a somewhat unwilling Colonial Fiji for independence.
Sir John Neil Falvey, K.B.E., Q.C. was a New Zealand-born Fijian lawyer, who served as Attorney General of Fiji from 1970 to 1977. Previously, he had served as legal adviser to the Fijian Affairs Board.
General elections were held in Fiji in 1929. They were the first in which Indo-Fijians were allowed to vote.
General elections were held in Fiji on 31 August 1932, although only one of the nine elected seats was contested.
General elections were held in Fiji in August 1956; voting took place in the Eastern constituencies between 11 and 18 August, and on 18 August in all other constituencies.
