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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 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 drew its support mainly from indigenous Fijiians.
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.
The National Alliance Party of Fiji (NAPF) was a Fijian political party. It was formally registered on 18 January 2005 by Ratu Epeli Ganilau,as the claimed successor to the defunct Alliance Party,which ruled Fiji from 1967 to 1987 under the leadership of the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara,Ganilau's father-in-law. Others involved with the party included university lecturer Meli Waqa as party secretary,and Manu Korovulavula as treasurer. The Deputy Leader was Hirdesh Sharma. The party was launched publicly at a mass rally in Suva on 8 April 2005.
The Grand Coalition for Fiji,formerly known as the Grand Coalition Initiative Group,was a coalition of five predominantly indigenous Fijian political parties in Fiji,forged for the purpose of contesting the general election scheduled for 2006 under a single umbrella and forming a coalition government subsequently. Efforts to unite the ethnic Fijian parties were in part a response to their electoral defeat in 1999,when they had been split,enabling the Indian-backed FLP to win a landslide victory. Nevertheless,Tomasi Vakatora,the chairman of the Grand Coalition,publicly stated in February 2006 that it was open to sharing preferences with the predominantly Indian parties. By the time of the election,however,the coalition was virtually defunct.
General elections were held in Fiji between 6 and 13 May 2006.
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 poll postponement in one of the four wards.
Krishna Datt, last name sometimes spelt as Dutt,is a Fijian politician of Indian descent. Datt served as Principal of Suva Grammar School,where he participated in the national teachers' strikes in 1985,which launched his political career with the Fiji Labour Party.
Pravin Singh was a Fijian politician of Indian descent,who won the Tavua Open Constituency in the House of Representatives for the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) in the parliamentary elections of 1999 and 2001.
Vijay Singh is a former Fijian politician of Indian descent,who represented the Vuda Open Constituency in the House of Representatives for the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) from 2001 to 2006,having retained the seat at the 2001 parliamentary election with more than 57 percent of the votes cast.
Perumal Mupnar is a former Fijian politician of Indian Tamil descent,who held the Yasawa Nawaka Open Constituency in the House of Representatives for the Fiji Labour Party in the parliamentary election of 2001. In the parliamentary election held on 6–13 May 2006,he transferred to the Nadi Rural Indian Communal Constituency and held it for the FLP.
Gaffar Ahmed is a former Fiji Labour Party (FLP) Fijian politician of Indian descent. Ahmed was born in Ba and is a former police officer. He represented the Ba West Indian Communal Constituency,one of 19 reserved for Indo-Fijians,from 1995 to 2006.
Udit Narayan was a Fijian politician of Indian descent. He represented the Lautoka Rural Indian Communal Constituency,one of 19 reserved for Indo-Fijians,which he held for the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) in the parliamentary elections of 2001 with more than 71 percent of the vote.
Dr Gunasagaran Gounder is a Fiji Indian medical doctor who,as a Fiji Labour Party candidate,defeated the Leader of Opposition,Jai Ram Reddy of the National Federation Party,in the contest for the Yasawa Nawaka Open Constituency seat in the 1999 general election. He was subsequently appointed Assistant Minister for Health in the Peoples Coalition Government led by Mahendra Chaudhry from 1999 to 2000.
Pratap Chand is a former Fijian politician of Indian descent. In the House of Representatives he represented the Nasinu Indian Communal Constituency from 1999 to 2006. He held the seat,one of 19 reserved for Indo-Fijians,for the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) in the general elections of 1999 and 2001.
Ragho Nand is a Fiji Indian former politician who was also a Minister in the multi-party cabinet following the 2006 election.
Davendra Singh 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.
Charan Jeath Singh is an Indo-Fijian businessman,politician,and Cabinet Minister. From 1992 to 2005 he was Mayor of Labasa. He is the founder of the CJS Group of companies.
Ponipate Tawase Lesavua was a Fijian politician,who led the now-defunct Party of National Unity,which drew most of its support from Ba Province in the West of the country. The former Police officer,who spent 20 years in the Criminal Investigation Department,was an outspoken politician,who championed what he saw as the interests of western Fiji. He has endorsed calls for a return to the former system of customary justice,in force during the colonial era,under which convicted offenders would be returned to their villages not only for punishment but also for counselling and correction,according to the Fiji Times.
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- ↑ Labour line-up for August election
- ↑ PM announces 14 FLP Ministers Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine