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Elections In Fiji
Since becoming independent of the United Kingdom in 1970, Fiji has had four constitutions, and the voting system has changed accordingly. Suffrage and representation The Legislative Council elected in 1963 had 37 members. There were 12 elected members, four from each of the Fijian, Indian and European groups chosen on a communal franchise. The Governor also nominated two from each of the communities. There were to be 19 official members. The Legislative Councillors of each race were permitted to select two from their fellows to the Executive Council. Qualifications to register as a voter were as follows: # British subject # Age of 21 years or over # Resident in the colony for a period of, or periods amounting in the aggregate of, not less than twelve months out of the preceding three years. # Ability to read and write a simple sentence and sign one’s name in the English language in the case of a European, in either English or Fijian in the case of a Fijian, and for an Indian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and most of List of islands of the United Kingdom, the smaller islands within the British Isles, covering . Northern Ireland shares Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. It maintains sovereignty over the British Overseas Territories, which are located across various oceans and seas globally. The UK had an estimated population of over 68.2 million people in 2023. The capital and largest city of both England and the UK is London. The cities o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rotumans
The Rotumans ( Rotuman: ''Rotuạm''; Fijian: ''Ro'') are a Polynesian ethnic group native to Rotuma, an island group forming part of Fiji. The island itself is a cultural melting pot at the crossroads of the Micronesian, Melanesian and Polynesian divisions of the Pacific Ocean, and due to the seafaring nature of traditional Pacific cultures, the indigenous Rotuman have adopted or share many aspects of its multifaceted culture with its Melanesian, Micronesian and Polynesian neighbours. Ancestors Rotuma was first inhabited according to record by people of Tahiti Nui, Marquesas, and Rapa Nui. At that time, it was known as Siria. Little was known about the exact years of migration from these far Eastern Kingdoms of those times. The only information known was that Rotuma was used by these three Kingdoms as the royal burial ground for the Kings and Queens of Tahiti Nui and Rapa Nui. Rotuma was known as Siria by the indigenous peoples of Tahiti Nui and Rapa Nui as it was named afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Open Constituencies
Open constituencies represent one of several electoral models employed in the past in the Fijian electoral system. They derived their name from the fact that they were "open": unlike the communal constituencies, the 25 members of the House of Representatives who represented open constituencies were elected by universal suffrage and were open to members of any ethnic group. Universal suffrage with a common voters' roll was first proposed by the Indo-Fijian-dominated National Federation Party (NFP) in the early 1960s, but was opposed by most leaders of the indigenous Fijian community, who were fearful that a common roll would favour Indo-Fijians, who then comprised a majority of the population. The proposal came up again intermittently throughout the 1970s, but nothing came of it. Open constituencies came into being when the 1997 constitution was adopted in 1997–1998. The Constitutional Commission chaired by former New Zealand Governor-General Sir Paul Reeves had recommend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
President Of Fiji
The president of Fiji is the List of heads of state of Fiji, head of state of the Fiji, Republic of Fiji. The president is appointed by the Parliament of Fiji, Parliament for a three-year term under the terms of the 2013 Constitution of Fiji, 2013 Constitution. Although not entirely a figurehead, the role of president in the government is largely ceremonial, but there are important reserve powers that may be exercised in the event of a crisis. In addition, the president is the commander-in-chief of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces. History of the office The office of the president was established following two 1987 Fijian coups d'état, military coups in 1987 that led to the proclamation of a republic on 7 October, ending the Monarchy of Fiji, Fijian monarchy. Major-General Sitiveni Rabuka, who had masterminded the coups, formed an interim military government with himself as its head. He did not, however, take the title of president, and on 5 December appointed Penaia Gan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Council Of Rotuma
The Council of Rotuma is a municipal body on the island of Rotuma, a Fiji Fiji, 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 of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...an dependency. Owing to the unique character of Rotuma, the powers of this council are greater than those of other municipal bodies in Fiji and in some ways it approximates a legislative body, though it is in every way subordinate to the Parliament of Fiji. Members The Council consists of fourteen full members and three advisory members. Each of Rotuma's seven districts elects one representative to the council; the traditional Chief of each district is also a Council member ''ex officio.'' The advisory members, who have speaking rights but not voting rights, are the District Officer, the most senior Medical Officer, and the most senior Agricultural Off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leader Of The Opposition (Fiji)
In Fiji, the leader of the opposition (or opposition leader) is a senior politician who commands the support of the Official Opposition. The leader of the opposition is, by convention, the leader of the largest political party in the Parliament of Fiji that is not in government. This is usually this is the parliamentary leader of the second-largest caucus in Parliament. It did not originate in Fiji but has a long tradition; in British constitutional theory, the leader of the opposition must pose a formal alternative to the government, ready to form a government himself should the prime minister lose the confidence of the parliament. Typically the leader of the opposition is elected by his or her party according to its rules. A new leader may be elected when the incumbent dies, resigns, or is challenged for the leadership. Inia Seruiratu of the FijiFirst party (independent since 2024) has been serving as the leader of the opposition since 29 March 2023. Description of the of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prime Minister Of Fiji
The prime minister of Fiji is the head of government of the Republic of Fiji. The prime minister is appointed under the terms of the 2013 Constitution. The prime minister is the head of the Cabinet and appoints and dismisses ministers. Description of the office As a former British colony, Fiji has largely adopted British political models and follows the Westminster, or Cabinet, system of government, in which the executive branch of government is responsible to the legislature. Under the 2013 Constitution, the prime minister is the leader of the political party which has won more than half of the total number of seats in Parliament. If no such party exist, the Parliament elects the prime minister. The prime minister of Fiji is technically the " first among equals," whose vote in meetings of the Cabinet carries no greater weight than that of any other minister. In practice, the prime minister dominates the government. Other ministers are appointed by the prime minister. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Past The Post
First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the candidate with more first-preference votes than any other candidate (a Plurality (voting), ''plurality'') is elected, even if they do not have more than half of votes (a ''majority''). FPP has been used to elect part of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, British House of Commons since the Middle Ages before spreading throughout the British Empire. Throughout the 20th century, many countries that previously used FPP have abandoned it in favor of other electoral systems, including the former British colonies of Australia and New Zealand. FPP is still De jure, officially used in the majority of U.S. state, US states for most elections. However, the combination of Partisan primary, partisan primaries and a two-party system in these jurisd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Council Of Chiefs
The Great Council of Chiefs () is a Fijian constitutional body. It previously existed from 1876 to March 2012 and was restored in May 2023. It is different from the House of Chiefs, a larger body that includes all hereditary chiefs, although membership of the two bodies overlapped to a considerable extent. The Great Council of Chiefs in its most recent form was established under Section 116 of the now-defunct 1997 Constitution, but it actually predated the Constitution by many years, having been established by the British colonial rulers as an advisory body in 1876, two years after Fiji was ceded to the United Kingdom. The current chairperson is Viliame Seruvakula. History The Council was established in 1876 under the governorship of Sir Arthur Gordon. The decision was taken following consultations with chiefs, who advised Sir Arthur on how best to govern the colony's indigenous population. In the words of anthropologist Robert Norton, it "embodied the privileged relati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Constituencies
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 Parliamentary constituencies allocated on an ethnic basis and elected only by voters enrolled as members of specific ethnic groups. Demands for a common voters' roll were first raised by the Indo-Fijian-dominated National Federation Party in the early 1960s, but were resisted by leaders of the indigenous Fijian community, who feared that a common roll would favour Indo-Fijians, who were then in the majority. Concerns were also raised that as the fundamental faultline of Fijian politics was ethnic rather than ideological, direct competition between the races could lead to an escalation of ethnic tensions. As a compromise, the British colonial rulers established both communal constituencies (allocated and elected ethnically) and "cross-voting" constituencie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Ethnic Groups
Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common ancestry, language, faith, historical continuity, etc. There are no universally accepted and precise definitions of the terms "ethnic group" and "nationality", but in the context of European ethnography in particular, the terms ''ethnic group'', ''people'', ''nationality'' and ''ethno-linguistic group'' are used as mostly synonymous. Preference may vary in usage with respect to the situation specific to the individual countries of Europe, and the context in which they may be classified by those terms. The total number of national minority populations in Europe is estimated at 105 million people, or 14% of 770 million Europeans in 2002.Christoph Pan, Beate Sibylle Pfeil (2002), Minderheitenrechte in Europa. Handbuch der europäischen Volksgruppen', Braumüller, (Google Books, snippet view). Als2006 rep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Electors
"General Electors" is the term formerly used in Fiji to identify citizens of voting age who belonged, in most cases, to ethnic minorities. The 1997 Constitution defined General Electors as all Fiji citizens who were not registered as being of Fijian, Indian, or Rotuman descent. Also included were citizens who did qualify to be registered in the above categories, but who chose not to be. Persons of biracial or multiracial ancestry could opt to enroll either as General Electors, or as descendants of any of the other three groups to which they had an ancestral claim. General Electors were thus a diverse electorate, whose members included Europeans, Chinese, Banaban Islanders, and many smaller groups. They were allocated 3 seats in the House of Representatives, the lower and more influential house of the Fijian Parliament. The 1997 Constitution of Fiji was a compromise between what it saw as the ideal of universal suffrage, and the practical reality of the need to protect the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
