1966 Fijian general election explained

Country:Fiji
Type:parliamentary
Previous Election:1963 Fijian general election
Previous Year:1963
Election Date:26 September–8 October 1966
Next Election:1972 Fijian general election
Next Year:1972
Seats For Election:All 36 seats in the Legislative Council
Majority Seats:18
Leader1:Kamisese Mara
Image1:Kamisese Mara.jpg
Party1:Alliance Party (Fiji)
Seats1:23
Popular Vote1:214,872
Percentage1:51.94%
Leader2:A. D. Patel
Party2:Federation Party
Seats2:9
Popular Vote2:113,310
Percentage2:27.39%
Chief Minister
After Election:Kamisese Mara
After Party:Alliance Party (Fiji)

General elections were held in Fiji between 26 September and 8 October 1966,[1] the last before independence in 1970 and the first held under universal suffrage.[2] 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.

Background

A constitutional conference was held in London in 1965, which resulted in the Legislative Council being reorganised to consist of 36 seats; 14 for Fijians and other Pacific Islanders (two of which were nominated by the Great Council of Chiefs), 12 for Indo-Fijians and 10 for all other ethnic groups.[2] The total number of registered voters was 156,683; 75,768 Indo-Fijians, 74,575 Fijians and 6,340 General electors.[1]

Members of the Legislative Council were elected from two types of constituencies; communal and cross-voting, with voters being able to cast four votes each. Each voter cast a single vote in one of the 25 communal constituencies, in which they could only vote for a candidate of their own ethnicity. In the three three-seat cross-voting constituencies, voters voted for a candidate from each of the three ethnic groups.[2]

Campaign

For the first time, the elections were a largely partisan event, dominated by the Fijian Alliance Party and the Indo-Fijian Federation Party.[2] A total of 79 candidates contested the elections, three of which were women.[3]

Results

By constituency

SeatCandidatePartyVotes%Notes
Fijian seats
CakaudroveJone NaisaraAlliance Party4,908Elected
Anare M. TuidrakiIndependent949
Invalid votes314–
Lau–RotumaJonati MavoaAlliance Partyalign=center colspan=2UnopposedElected
Lomaiviti/KadavuSolomone MomoivaluAlliance Partyalign=center colspan=2UnopposedElected
Macuata/BuaEmosi VuakataganeAlliance Party2,885Elected
Militoni Vereaqali LeweniqilaIndependent1,774
Invalid votes207–
North West Viti LevuSakeasi WaqanivavalagiAlliance Party6,354Elected
Isaia VakabuaIndependent1,670
Jone RavunakanaIndependent1,268
Invalid votes191–
Rewa–SuvaAlipate SikivouAlliance Party4,427Elected
Jone Cure MataitiniIndependent1,779
Noa Niubalavu NawalowaloIndependent1,268
Invalid votes158–
South Central Viti LevuDavid ToganivaluAlliance Party4,368Elected
Penaia Lalabalavu LatianaraIndependent981
Meli Radelaiburelevu LokiIndependent873
Ifereimi NakaiwaluIndependent205
Invalid votes182–
South West Viti LevuPeniame NaqasimaAlliance Party5,600Elected
Apisai ToraNational Democratic Party2,632
Invalid votes133–
TailevuWilliam Brown ToganivaluAlliance Party3,347Elected
Livai VolavolaIndependent1,530
Meli Saronicava BaleilakebaIndependent383
Invalid votes187–
Council of Chiefs nomineesGeorge CakobauElected
Losalini Raravuya DoviElected
General seats
Eastern and CentralWesley BarrettAlliance Party816Elected
Robert Spowart Independent132
Invalid votes11–
NorthernHarold Brockett GibsonIndependent392Elected
Fred ArchibaldIndependent292Unseated
Hugh ThaggardIndependent151
Lawrence SimpsonIndependent73
Invalid votes33–
SuvaJohn FalveyAlliance Party1,544Re-elected
Charles StinsonIndependent1,384Elected
William YeeAlliance Party1,381Elected
Margaret BainAlliance Party1,288
Invalid votes4–
West Viti LevuRonald KermodeAlliance Partyalign=center colspan=2UnopposedRe-elected
Robin YarrowAlliance Partyalign=center colspan=2UnopposedElected
Indo-Fijian seats
North-East Vanua LevuJames MadhavanFederation Party5,04966.9Re-elected
Gaya PrasadIndependent2,49433.1
Invalid votes320–
North-East Viti LevuC. A. ShahFederation Party3,79958.2Re-elected
Vishnu DeoAlliance Party1,95530.0
V. P. BajpaiIndependent77011.8
Invalid votes100–
North EasternRam Jati SinghFederation Party2,32865.3Elected
Harish Chandra KohliIndependent1,23834.7
Invalid votes206–
North-West Viti LevuR. D. PatelFederation Party4,704Elected
James Shankar SinghAlliance Party4,421
Invalid votes104–
South-Central Viti LevuM. T. KhanFederation Party4,380Elected
Ramanlal I. KapadiaIndependent1,650
B.D. MotiIndependent67
B. D. LakshmanIndependent24
Invalid votes150–
South-West Viti LevuA. D. PatelFederation Party7,601Re-elected
Ayodhya PrasadAlliance Party4,025
Invalid votes167–
SuvaIrene Jai NarayanFederation Party5,67667.1Elected
Andrew DeokiIndependent2,77932.9Unseated
Invalid votes108–
Tailevu-RewaK. C. RamrakhaFederation Party3,22071.5Elected
K. B. SinghIndependent67715.1
Ram Lochan ReganIndependent60413.4
Invalid votes105–
West Viti Levu IndianSidiq KoyaFederation Party6,318Re-elected
Jaswant SinghIndependent2,221
C. A. PatelIndependent19
Invalid votes201–
Source: Pacific Islands Monthly
Cross-voting seats
ConstituencyEthnic groupCandidatePartyVotes%Notes
CentralFijianEdward CakobauAlliance Partyalign=center colspan=2UnopposedRe-elected
GeneralDouglas Walkden-BrownAlliance Party21,208Elected
James Ah KoyIndependent5,604
David WhippyIndependent2,622
Trevor McNallyIndependent976
Invalid votes11,518–
Indo-FijianAbdul LateefAlliance Party15,498Elected
Madho Singh TikaramFederation Party13,487
C. P. SinghIndependent7,939Unseated
Shiu Narayan KanhaiIndependent1,505
M. ColumbusIndependent1,077
M. AzamIndependent987
Invalid votes1,584–
Northern and EasternFijianKamisese MaraAlliance Party26,025Re-elected
Nemani WakaIndependent8,635
Informal885–
GeneralLindsay VerrierAlliance Partyalign=center colspan=2UnopposedElected
Indo-FijianVijay R. SinghAlliance Party26,634Elected
Vijay SinghFederation Party8,068
Invalid votes808–
WesternFijianJoshua ToganivaluAlliance Party25,960Elected
Penaia RokovuniFederation Party23,171
Isikeli NadaloNational Democratic Party4,242
Invalid votes2,085–
GeneralLoloma LivingstonAlliance Party23,768Elected
Peter DavisIndependent22,677
Invalid votes8,882–
Indo-FijianK. S. ReddyAlliance Party28,200Elected
Deo NarayanFederation Party25,509
Invalid votes1,729–
Source: Pacific Islands Monthly

Aftermath

Following the elections, the two independents joined the Alliance Party.[2] A new government was formed with Kamisese Mara as Leader of Government Business.[4] The Executive Council consisted of six elected members and four civil servants.[5]

1966 Executive Council
PositionMember
Leader of Government BusinessKamisese Mara
Natural Resources
Attorney GeneralJustin Lewis
Acting Chief SecretaryIan Thomson
Commerce, Industry and TourismEdward Cakobau
Communications and WorksCharles Stinson
Financial SecretaryHarry Richie
Secretary for Fijian Affairs and Local GovernmentPenaia Ganilau
Social ServicesVijay R. Singh
Undersecretary for Social ServicesK. S. Reddy
Without portfolioJohn Falvey

At the first meeting of the Legislative Council on 11 November, Ronald Kermode was elected Speaker unopposed, with James Madhavan elected Deputy Speaker.[6]

Full ministerial government was introduced on 1 September 1967. On the same day, the Federation Party MLCs walked out of the Legislative Council.[7] After they missed three meetings, the nine Indo-Fijian communal seats were declared vacant and a series of by-elections held in 1968.

1967 Cabinet
PositionMinister
Chief MinisterKamisese Mara
Minister for Commerce, Industry and LabourEdward Cakobau
Minister for Communications, Works and TourismCharles Stinson
Minister for Fijian Affairs and Local GovernmentPenaia Ganilau
Minister for FinanceHarry Richie
Minister for Natural ResourcesDouglas Walkden-Brown
Minister without PortfolioJohn Falvey
Minister for Social ServicesVijay R. Singh
Source: Pacific Islands Monthly

See also

Notes and References

  1. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-370541289/view?partId=nla.obj-370564855#page/n10/mode/1up Militant Indians active as Fiji goes to the polls
  2. http://fijielections.blogspot.com/2017/02/1966-fiji-legislative-council-elections.html 1966 Fiji Legislative Council elections
  3. "79 At The Barriers For Fiji's Biggest Election", Pacific Islands Monthly, September 1966, pp13–14
  4. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-331795230/view?partId=nla.obj-331922013#page/n11/mode/1up Ratu Mara heads Fiji's new government
  5. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-331795230/view?partId=nla.obj-331922278#page/n12/mode/1up Fiji's new government
  6. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-331795483/view?partId=nla.obj-331935507#page/n10/mode/1up Fiji's New Opposition Gets Down To Business
  7. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-326774875/view?partId=nla.obj-326821038#page/n20/mode/1up And in Fiji the phrase is, 'We won't co-operate'

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