Gyani Nand (1943 – 23 July 2007) was a

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 ...

an politician of Indian descent. He was born in Tavua and taught in a number of primary and high schools then worked as a hansard reporter and later as a diplomat in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and England before starting his political career. In the House of Representatives he represented the Suva City Indian Communal Constituency, one of 19 reserved for

Indo-Fijians 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 ...

, which he held for the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) in the

parliamentary elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

of 2001 with almost 75 percent of the vote. In the parliamentary election held on 6–13 May 2006, he again won, this time with over 77 percent, and was subsequently named

Minister for Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

in the multi-party

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

that was formed. The FLP members of the Cabinet were advised by its leader,

Mahendra Chaudhry Mahendra Pal Chaudhry ( hif, महेन्द्र पाल चौधरी; born 9 February 1942) is a Fijian politician and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party. Following a historic election in which he defeated the long-time former lead ...

, to vote against the 2007 budget but Nand was absent during voting. Chaudhry threatened those not voting against the budget with disciplinary action but the 2006 coup took place before any action could be taken. Nand died at the Suva Private Hospital early on 23 July 2007 after a short illness.

References

1943 births 2007 deaths Fiji Labour Party politicians Indian members of the House of Representatives (Fiji) Fijian Hindus Agriculture ministers of Fiji Politicians from Tavua, Fiji Fijian politicians of Indian descent {{Fiji-politician-stub