Vyas Deo Sharma

Last updated
Vyas Deo Sharma
Member of House of Representatives (Fiji)
Vuda Indian Communal Constituency
In office
2001–2006
Preceded byVinod Chandra Deo Maharaj
Personal details
Political partyFiji Labour Party

Vyas Deo Sharma is a former Fijian politician of Indian descent. In the House of Representatives he represented the Vuda Indian Communal Constituency, one of 19 reserved for Indo-Fijians, from 2001 to 2006.

He won the seat for the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) in the parliamentary elections of 2001 with almost 80 percent of the vote, taking the seat from the incumbent Vinod Chandra Deo Maharaj who had been elected on the FLP ticket in 1999 but had subsequently defected to the New Labour Unity Party.

In 2003, Sharma was offered the portfolio of Minister for Veterans Affairs, together with 13 other FLP parliamentarians who were offered cabinet positions by the Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase but the FLP refused to accept this offer. [1]

A staunch supporter of FLP leader Mahendra Chaudhry, he publicly clashed with fellow-parliamentarian Felix Anthony and others who questioned Chaudhry's style of leadership. On 30 June 2006, Fiji Village revealed that he had filed a police complaint against Anthony for alleged verbal abuse at the Warwick Hotel in Sigatoka the day before.

Related Research Articles

Mahendra Chaudhry

The Rt. Hon. Mahendra Pal Chaudhry is a 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), 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.

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.

2001 Fijian general election

General elections were held in Fiji in August and September 2001. The Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua party won 18 of the 23 seats reserved for ethnic Fijians and one of three "general electorates" set aside for Fiji's European, Chinese, and other minorities. It also won 13 of the 25 "open electorates," so-called because they are open to candidates of any race and are elected by universal suffrage. The remaining 5 ethnic Fijian seats, and one open electorate, were won by the Conservative Alliance, one of whom was George Speight who had led the putsch against the lawful government the year before. Chaudhry's Labour Party won all 19 Indo-Fijian seats and 9 open electorates. The New Labour Unity Party, formed by defectors from the FLP, won one general electorate and one open electorate. The three remaining seats were won by minor parties and independent candidates.

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.

Poseci Waqalevu Bune is a former Fijian politician, who has served as Deputy Leader of the Fiji Labour Party (FLP). From June to December 2006, he served as Minister for the Environment, one of nine FLP ministers, in the multiparty Cabinet of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. His ministerial career was terminated by the coup d'état that deposed the government on 5 December 2006, but on January 8, 2007, he was appointed as Minister for Public Service and Public Service Reform in the interim Cabinet of Commodore Frank Bainimarama.

2006 Fijian general election

The Constitution of Fiji requires general elections for the House of Representatives to be held at least once every five years. The last election before Fiji's 2014 election was held on 6–13 May 2006. Acting President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi issued a proclamation on 2 March, effective from 27 March, dissolving Parliament. The previous parliamentary term had been due to expire on 1 October 2006.

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, a former police officer, 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.

Surendra Lal is a former Fijian politician of Indian descent. In the House of Representatives he represented the Vanua Levu West 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 65 percent of the vote.

Chaitanya Lakshman is a Fiji Indian lawyer, social worker and politician who served in the multi-party cabinet of the Qarase Government as Minister for Local Government.

Vinod Chandra Deo Maharaj is a Fiji Indian politician who won the Vuda Indian Communal Constituency, one of the 19 seats reserved for Fiji citizens of Indian origin, for the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) during the 1999 elections for the House of Representatives.

References

  1. PM announces 14 FLP Ministers Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine