Fiji Elections

Elections in Fiji are of prime importance. Being a Republic Fiji has the election system which empowers the people of the country. It has got nine elections for the House of Representatives since 1970. though there were many elections under colonial rule, only one of them was with universal suffrage.

Voting system has changed in Fiji from time to time. Election process underwent many changes according to the Constitutions. It is interesting to note that there is no general Election for the Senate. The Senators are not elected but nominated.

Fiji Election elected 12 members in 1963 for the Legislative Council. The members belonged to European, Fijian, Indian groups.

To be able to be a part of the Elections of Fiji in the colonial period people needed the following qualifications

• British Subject
• Minimum Age 21 years
• A resident of the colony
• Able to read and write in English

After independence from 1972 to 1994, 8 sits in the House of Representatives were allocated to general Electors. In 1992 and 1994, 5 sits were allocated to General Electors.

From 1999 onwards the House of Representatives have 71 members. 25 of them were allocated to open electors. They may belong to any race an dare elected by universal suffrage. 46 remaining sits are communal. Among these 23 are allocated to indigenous Fijians, 19 to Indo-Fijians, 1 to Rotuman Islanders an d3 to general electors. For these Elections Instant run-off voting was adopted.