Elections in Fiji
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Fiji has held nine general elections for the House of Representatives since becoming independent of the United Kingdom in 1970. In this period, Fiji has had three constitutions, and the voting system has changed accordingly. Note that there are no general elections for the Senate: The 32 Senators are not elected but nominated.
- From 1972 through 1987, the House of Representatives had 52 members. Of these, 22 were allocated to indigenous Fijians and another 22 to Indo-Fijians; a further 8 were allocated to General Electors (Europeans, Chinese, and other minorities). Of the 22 seats allocated each to indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians, 12 were elected from communal rolls, consisting of electors registered as members of their respective ethnic groups, and 10 were elected from national constituencies by universal suffrage. Of the 8 seats allocated to General Electors, 3 were elected from a communal roll and 5 from national constituencies. All members represented single-member constituencies, and were elected by the First past the post system. In the same period, the Senate had 22 members (8 nominated by the Great Council of Chiefs (of whom any three held the power of veto over changes to the country's land laws), 7 by the Prime Minister, 6 by the Leader of the Opposition, and 1 by the Council of Rotuma).
- In 1992 and 1994, the House of Representatives had 70 members. 37 seats were allocated to indigenous Fijians, 27 to Indo-Fijians, 1 to Rotuman Islanders, and 5 to General Electors. All were elected from communal rolls; that is, all members were elected only by voters registered as belonging to their own ethnic group. The First past the post system remained in effect. The Senate in this time had 34 members (24 nominated by the Great Council of Chiefs and 1 by the Council of Rotuma; a further 9 were appointed by the President to represent non-indigenous Fijians).
- From 1999 onwards, the House of Representatives has had 71 members. 25 represent open electorates; these members are elected by universal suffrage and may belong to any race. The remaining 46 seats are communal, with 23 being allocated to indigenous Fijians, 19 to Indo-Fijians, 1 to Rotuman Islanders, and 3 to General Electors. Instant run-off voting was adopted for these elections. The Senate now has 32 members (14 nominated by the Great Council of Chiefs, 9 by the Prime Minister, 8 by the Leader of the Opposition, and 1 by the Council of Rotuma).
Election results
Note: The Year at the top of each column links to a main article about the election held that year.
| Party | 1972 | 03/1977 | 09/1977 | 1982 | 1987 | 1992 | 1994 | 1999 | 2001 |
| All Nationals Congress Party | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| Christian Democratic Alliance | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | 0 |
| Conservative Alliance | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 |
| Fijian Alliance | 33 | 24 | 36 | 28 | 24 | - | - | - | - |
| Fijian Association Party | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | 11 | 0 |
| Fijian Nationalist Party | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - |
| Fijian Political Party | - | - | - | - | - | 36 | 33 | 8 | 0 |
| Fiji Labour Party | - | - | - | - | - | 13 | 7 | 37 | 28 |
| General Voters Party | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | 4 | - | - |
| National Federation Party | 19 | 26 | 15 | 22 | - | 14 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| NFP/FLP coalition | - | - | - | - | 28 | - | - | - | - |
| Nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo Party | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - |
| New Labour Unity Party | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| Party of National Unity | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | - |
| United General Party | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | 1 |
| Western United Front | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Independents | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | 2 |
| TOTAL | 52 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 70 | 70 | 71 | 71 |
See also
External links
- Electionworld (http://www.electionworld.org/fiji.htm)
- Adam Carr's Election Archive (http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/f/fiji/)