Related Research Articles
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.
Fiji has held 12 general elections, 10 for the House of Representatives since becoming independent of the United Kingdom in 1970; there had been numerous elections under colonial rule, but only one with universal suffrage and 2 for the Parliament of Fiji since the establishment of the 2013 constitution. In this period, Fiji has had four constitutions, and the voting system has changed accordingly.
General elections were held in Fiji between 15 and 29 April 1972, the first since independence from the United Kingdom in 1970. They were characterised by the lack of rancour between racial groups, typical of the 1966 general election and the 1968 by-elections.
General elections were held in Fiji between 10 and 17 July 1982. The paradoxical results were both a triumph and a setback for the Alliance Party of the Prime Minister, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. The Alliance captured 51.8 percent of the popular vote, only slightly down on its previous total, but won only 28 seats, 8 fewer than at the previous election of September 1977. Part of the reason for this discrepancy was that the slight surge in support for Ratu Mara's Alliance in the Indo-Fijian community, from 14 percent to 16 percent, was not sufficient to translate into seats in Fiji's communal electoral system, and did not therefore off-set losses among the ethnic Fijian community, particularly in the west of the country. The Western United Front of Ratu Osea Gavidi won only two seats, but split the vote, allowing the National Federation party (NFP), with which it tactically allied itself, to pick up six seats for a total of 22. Moreover, the NFP, which had split into two factions before the previous election, had reunited by now.
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.
Niko Nawaikula also known as Nikolau Tuiqamea, is a Fijian lawyer, and member of the Parliament of Fiji. He is a member of the Social Democratic Liberal Party.
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.
Open constituencies represent one of several electoral models employed in the past in the Fijian electoral system. They derived their name from the fact that they were "open": unlike the communal constituencies, the 25 members of the House of Representatives who represented open constituencies were elected by universal suffrage and were open to members of any ethnic group.
Cakaudrove is one of fourteen provinces of Fiji, and one of three based principally on the northern island of Vanua Levu, occupying the south-eastern third of the island and including the nearby islands of Taveuni, Rabi, Kioa, and numerous other islands in the Vanua Levu Group. It has a total land area of 2,816 square kilometers, with a population of 50,469 at the most recent census in 2017, making it the seventh most populous province. The only major town is Savusavu, with a population of 3,372 in 2007.
Manasa Tugia is a former Fijian politician, who served as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2005 to 2006, and as Chairman of Parliament's Justice, Law, and Order Committee. In the latter role, he coordinated hearings into the government's controversial Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity (RTU) Bill).
Emasi Qovu is a former Fijian politician, served in the House of Representatives from 2001 to 2006. Whilst in Parliament he was appointed Government Whip in 2005–2006.
Amjad Ali is a Fiji Indian politician. In the House of Representatives he represented the Nadi Urban Indian Communal Constituency, one of 19 reserved for Indo-Fijians, from 1999 to 2006, having held the seat for the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) in the general elections of 1999 and 2001. At the 2006 general election, he transferred to the Nadi Open Constituency and held it for the FLP.
Attar Singh is a Fijian trade unionist of Indian descent. As of January 2007, he is the General Secretary of the Fiji Islands Council of Trade Unions (FICTU), one of two major umbrella bodies for trade unions in Fiji.
Mohammed Latif Subedar is a Fiji Indian politician who won the Labasa Rural Indian Communal Constituency, one of the 19 seats reserved for Fiji citizens of Indian origin, for the Fiji Labour Party during the 1999 election and the 2001 election for the House of Representatives.
Giyannedra Prasad was a Fiji Indian politician who won the Macuata East Cakaudrove Indian Communal Constituency, one of the 19 seats reserved for Fiji citizens of Indian origin, for the Fiji Labour Party during the 1999 elections for the House of Representatives.
Charan Jeath Singh is a Fiji Indian who has been involved in local Government and national politics in Fiji representing various political organisations.
Harilal Manilal Patel is a Fiji Indian lawyer who has also been a member of the House of Representatives of Fiji.
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.
References
  | This article about a Fijian politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |