General elections were held in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

between 10 and 17 July 1982. The paradoxical results were both a triumph and a setback for the Alliance Party of the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Kamisese Mara Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, (6 May 1920 – 18 April 2004) was a Fijian politician, who served as Chief Minister from 1967 to 1970, when Fiji gained its independence from the United Kingdom, and, apart from one brief interruption in 1987, the fi ...

. The Alliance received 52% of the popular vote, only slightly down on its previous total, but won only 28 seats, eight fewer than in the previous elections of September 1977. Part of the reason for this discrepancy was that the slight surge in support for Mara's Alliance in the

Indo-Fijian Indo-Fijians or Indian-Fijians (also known as Fiji Indians) are Fijian citizens of Indian descent, and include people who trace their ancestry to various regions of the Indian subcontinent.Girmit by Suresh Prasad Although Indo-Fijians constitu ...

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 Western United Front (WUF) was an ethnically Fijian political party formed prior to the 1982 elections and contested the election in coalition with the National Federation Party (NFP-WUF Coalition). The party was in response to the disenfranchise ...

of Osea Gavidi won only two seats, but split the vote, allowing the

National Federation Party The National Federation Party is a Fijian political party founded by A. D. Patel, A.D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Federation Party and the National Democratic Party (Fiji, 1960s), National Democratic Party. Though it claimed to ...

(NFP), with which it tactically allied itself, to gain seven seats for a total of 22. The NFP, which had split into two factions before the previous elections, had been reunited.

Campaign

A total of 137 candidates contested the 52 seats in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

.Elections in PNG, Fiji
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', August 1982, p5 One candidate – Subramani Basawaiya of the

– was elected unopposed in the Savusavu–Macuatu East Indo-Fijian communal constituency, after his sole opponent, Alliance Party candidate Shiu Prasad, withdrew from the contest shortly before the elections. The Alliance claimed the withdrawal was tactical, as it would mean Indo-Fijian voters would be less likely to come out to vote, giving the Alliance an advantage in the

national constituencies {{Politics of Fiji 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 Par ...

. The Fijian Nationalist Party campaigned on a 'Fiji for the Fijians' platform, with their manifesto including policies of reserving 46 of the 52 seats in the House of Representatives for Fijians and returning all freehold and crown lands to the Fijian community. The Fijian-dominated

, established in July 1981 and led by Osea Gavidi, formed an electoral pact with the Indo-Fijian dominated

, resulting in the NFP standing down in six Fijian

to allow the WUF to run.

Results

The Alliance received 86% of the vote in the Fijian communal constituencies, with the WUF on 7% and the NFP just 0.8%. In Indo-Fijian communal constituencies the NFP received 84% of the vote and the Alliance 15%. Three deputy ministers lost their seats;

Bill Clark William Clark (1770–1838) was an American soldier and explorer; governor of Missouri Territory. William Clark may also refer to: Business * W. H. Clark (brewer) (William Henry Clark, c. 1815–c. 1870), brewer in South Australia * William Bell ...

, Ishwari Prasad Bajpai and Sakiasi Waqnivavalagi.Fiji's poll of records: Most voters, most bitterness, most mud-slinging
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', September 1982, pp10–13

Aftermath

Following the elections, Mara formed a fifteen-member cabinet.

References

{{Fijian elections Elections in Fiji

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Campaign

Results

Aftermath

See also

References