Pramod Kumar Rae (born 27 October 1951) is a Fijian

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

ist and political organizer of

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 ...

n descent. He was born in Suva and completed a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree and Post Graduate Certificate in Education from the

University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the go ...

. He has served for many years as General Secretary of the

National Federation Party The National Federation Party is a Fijian political party founded by A.D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Federation Party and the National Democratic Party. Though it claimed to represent all Fiji Islanders, it was supported, in p ...

(NFP), and worked to revive the popularity of the party, once a major player on the political scene but left without

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

representation in the

general 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 ( ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, 2001, and 2006. Rae was an unsuccessful candidate for the Suva City Open Constituency in the 1999 election. He received only 89 votes out of more than 12,000. He made another attempt to win election to the House of Representatives in the 2001 election, this time from the Laucala Open Constituency. He polled 6.1 percent of the vote, a considerable improvement on the negligible showing that Jag Nadan had made in the 1999 election. He was also a candidate in the 2006 election. He polled 666 votes, some 5 percent of the total, in the Samabula Tamavua Open Constituency. Most of his opponents in 2006 were nationally known politicians. Rae strongly opposed the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

that deposed the elected government of

Laisenia Qarase Laisenia Qarase (pronounced ; 4 February 1941 – 21 April 2020) was a Fijian politician. He served as the sixth Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. After the military quashed the coup that led to the removal of Mahendra Chaudhry, Qarase ...

on 5 December 2006. In the

held in 2014, the first since the coup, Rae stood as a candidate for the NFP, but was not elected.

Trade unionist

Rae has also been General Secretary of the Bank and Financial Sector Employees Union since March 2004, when he defeated

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 i ...

Parliamentarian

Ganesh Chand Dr. Ganeshwar Chand, better known as Ganesh Chand, is a Fijian academic and former politician of Indian descent. His is Vice-Chancellor of Solomon Islands National University. He was a founder of the University of Fiji and serves as a trustee of t ...

by 1145 votes to 484, with 17 ballots invalidated, in the trade union leadership elections. Alleging irregularities and corruption, Chand claimed that the election had been "thoroughly rigged" and sought an injunction in the High Court to nullify the election. The court upheld Chand's complaint and referred the matter to Taito Waqa, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Labour, who is also the Registrar of Trade Unions, for a final decision. Waqa ruled in favour of Chand on 10 February 2006. Chand said that Rae must vacate the union offices immediately and surrender any union assets in his custody, the

Fiji Times ''The Fiji Times'' is a daily English-language newspaper published in Suva, Fiji. Established in Levuka on 4 September 1869 by George Littleton Griffiths, it is Fiji's oldest newspaper still operating. ''The Fiji Times'' is owned by Motibhai G ...

reported. Rae responded on 14 February that Waqa's decision had been made in error. He had written to the Registrar, he said, to correct the mistake, and would remain in office pending a reply. Union President Salesh Naidu told

Fiji Village ''Fiji Village'' (stylised ''Fijivillage'') is an online news website in Fiji which is fully owned and operated by Communications Fiji Limited. It covers local, political, business, sporting, cultural, and other news items. ''Fiji Village'' is ...

on 2 March that the union was seeking a judicial review of the decision to remove Rae. On 10 March, the High Court granted a stay order, allowing Rae to remain in office pending the outcome of the judicial review.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rae, Pramod 1951 births Living people National Federation Party politicians Fijian politicians of Indian descent Fijian trade unionists University of the South Pacific alumni Politicians from Suva