The Justice and Freedom Party (JFP) was a minor

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

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 ...

. It was formed in 2000 to promote the interests of 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, and unsuccessfully contested the

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

elections. It was dissolved in 2013. In the 2001 election the party gained less than 0.1 percent of the popular vote and won no constituencies. With some 76 percent of Indo-Fijians voting for the

Fiji Labour Party The Fiji Labour Party (FLP; fj, Ilawalawa Cakacaka ni Viti), also known as Fiji Labour, is a political party in Fiji. Most of its support is from the Indo-Fijian community, although it is officially multiracial and its first leader was an in ...

and 22 percent for 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 ...

, the JFP was squeezed out. In the 2006 elections, the party intended to run candidates in all 19

communal constituencies {{Politics of Fiji Communal constituencies were the most durable feature of the Fijian electoral system. In communal constituencies, electors enrolled as ethnic Fijians, Indo-Fijians, Rotuman Islanders, or General electors (Europeans, Chinese ...

allocated to Indo-Fijians, and on 3 April published a

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

promising to petition the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

to press the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

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 ...

to accept responsibility for bringing

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

ns to Fiji during the

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

era. It also promised a F$10 million scholarship for Indo-Fijian students. The party would also push for

dual citizenship Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on ...

to be allowed for Indo-Fijians living in Australia and the United Kingdom, and for British passports to be restored to Indo-Fijians living in Fiji, JFP General Secretary

Dildar Shah Dildar is a masculine given name. It may refer to: * Dildar (actor) (1945–2003), Bangladeshi film actor * Dildar (poet) (1918–1948), Kurdish poet and political activist Given name * Dildar Ali Naseerabadi (1753–1820), Shia scholar of India ...

said. On 7 April, however, it was announced that the JFP had decided to merge with the multiracial

National Alliance Party of Fiji The National Alliance Party of Fiji (NAPF) was a Fijian political party. It was formally registered on 18 January 2005 by Ratu Epeli Ganilau, as the claimed successor to the defunct Alliance Party, which ruled Fiji from 1967 to 1987 under the ...

under the leadership of

Ratu ''Ratu'' () is an Austronesian title used by male Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, ''adi'' (pronounced ), is used by females of chiefly rank. In the Malay language, the title ''ratu'' is also the traditional honorific title to re ...

Epeli Ganilau Brigadier-General Ratu Epeli Ganilau, Military Cross, MC, Fijian honours system, MSD, (born 10 October 1951) is a former Fijian military officer and a retired politician. His career previously encompassed such roles as Commander of the Republic of ...

. Some JFP members, including Shah, would contest the forthcoming election on 6–13 May for the Alliance, Ganilau said. However, it did subsequently contest the election, gaining only 18 votes. In 2006 the Fijian government was overthrown and the Fijian parliament dissolved in a coup. In January 2013 the military regime promulgated new regulations governing the registration of political parties, requiring all parties to have at least 5,000 members. The JFP welcomed the new regulations but was unable to gain the required number of members. it was therefore wound up and its assets forfeited to the state.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Justice And Freedom Party (Fiji) Justice and Freedom Party Fiji Indian organisations Political parties of minorities Political parties established in 2000 Political parties disestablished in 2013