The evolution of Fiji's electoral system

Before Cession

House of Delegates

When Cakobau launched his Government in June 1871 he, he called for delegates from all the districts to discuss the constitution and to make any necessary amendments. Elections were held in most areas of European settlement and the House of Delegates was opened by Cakobau on 1 August 1871.  It comprised 30 chiefs and the same number of Europeans. The delegates passes amendments to the Constitution Act, which was signed by King Cakobau on 18 August and came into operation on the first day of October.  Among the changes to the constitution the delegates, set up a Privy council made up of Governors of Provincial Councils and one high chief from each Province and a  Legislative Assembly made up of Europeans. The session of the House of Delegates ended on 23 August 1871.

Legislative Assembly

The Assembly was made up of twenty-eight members from twenty-one districts. The writs for the election was issued in August 1871 and elections were held before the start of October. The Assembly began its first session on 3 November 1871, the second session on 24 March 1872 and its final session on 31 May 1873. During the third session, the Appropriation Act was rejected and the King dissolved the House on 11 July. Writs of election were issued for a new election, but as the Government attempted to allow native Fijians to vote, there were protests by the Europeans and the elections were never held. The King (Cakobau) continued to rule with the help of the Privy Council and his Ministers. ¹

Colony of Fiji

The first Legislative Council - 1875

Immediately after Fiji was ceded to Great Britain on 10 October 1874, the colony's first Governor, Sir Arthur Gordon, established an Executive Council with himself as President and six other European members. When Sir Arthur Gordon arrived on 1 September 1875, in addition to the Executive Council, he established a Legislative Council made up of the Governor, the Colonial Secretary, the Chief Justice, and the Attorney General as official members and four unofficial members drawn from the European community.

The first elected members of the Legislative Council - 1904

The European community continued to agitate for political reform and in 1904 a new Legislative Council was established with ten official members, six elected European members and two Fijians chosen by the Governor  from a list of six provided by the Council of Chiefs. Indians were not represented but the Agent-General for Immigration who sat in the Council as one of the ten official members indirectly represented them.

Constitutional changes in 1914 and 1916

Changes to the Constitution on 31 January 1914 and 20 July 1916 provided for a triennial Legislative Council consisting of the Governor as President, not more than twelve nominated members, of whom eleven must be public officers and one may be a British subject not holding any such office. From 1916 to 1929 an Indian was chosen as the twelfth nominated member. There were also seven elected European members and two nominated Fijian members chosen by the Governor from a list of six provided by the Great Council of Chiefs. ²

Constitutional changes in 1929

Changes to the Constitution on 1 May 1929 provided for a triennial Legislative Council consisting of the Governor as President, not more than thirteen nominated members who must be public officers. There were also six elected European members, three elected Indian members and three nominated Fijian members chosen by the Governor from a list of not less than four and not more than six, who are able to speak and understand the English language, provided by the Great Council of Chiefs. Only males above the age of 21 were eligible to be voters and there were literacy and property requirements.

Constitutional changes in 1937
Changes to the Constitution on 1937 provided for a triennial Legislative Council consisting of the Governor as President, not more than seventeen nominated members who must be public officers. In addition, there were five non-official members from each of the three major ethnic groups (Fijians, Indians, and Europeans); Indians and Europeans directly elected 3 members each, with a further 2 being appointed by the Governor; all 5 Fijian representatives were appointed by the Governor from a list of ten names submitted by the Great Council of Chiefs.

Constitutional changes in 1963

In 1963, the Legislative Council was expanded to 37 members, of which 19 were official members (usually heads of Government departments) and 18 unofficial members, thus retaining the official majority. Of the unofficial members, 12 were elected, 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. Although, for the first time ethnic Fijians and women were given the right to vote, illiterate adults were not permitted to vote, some people could choose between ethnic rolls and no provision was made for Rotumans, Pacific Islanders, Chinese and Part-Chinese to vote. There was also a number of changes to qualifications for candidates to run for office. Indian and European civil servants were prohibited from nominating as candidates, but this provision did not apply to Fijians as there were few qualified Fijians outside the civil service. Candidates were required, not only to be eligible to be registered as a voter, but to be actually registered.

Constitutional changes in 1965

At a constitutional conference in London in 1965 further changes to the constitution was carried out by which all adults were given the right to vote and the Legislative Council was to consist of  36 members. 25 seats represented Communal constituencies (9 indigenous Fijians (Fijians and Pacific Islanders), 9 Indo-Fijians, and 7 General Electors (Europeans, Chinese), elected on closed electoral rolls by voters registered as members of their respective ethnic groups. A further 9 members were elected from cross-voting seats allocated ethnically (3 for each ethnic constituency) but elected by universal suffrage. The remaining 2 members were nominated by the Great Council of Chiefs. The first elections under the new constitution were held in 1966.

Dominion of Fiji

Constitutional changes in 1970

When Fiji attained independence from the United Kingdom in 1970, the Legislative Council was replaced by the House of Representatives consisting of 52 members.  Fiji was divided into communal and national constituencies. The former were elected by voters registered as members of specific ethnic groups (12 Fijians, 12 Indians, and 3 General Electors - Caucasians, Chinese, and other minorities); the latter were allocated to specific ethnic groups (10 indigenous Fijians, 10 Indo-Fijians, and 5 General Electors), but elected by universal suffrage. Under a grandfather clause in the 1970 Constitution, the old Legislative Council was renamed the House of Representatives and continued in office until 1972, when the first post-independence elections were held.

Republic of Fiji

Constitutional changes in 1990

Following the two military coups, the 1970 constitution was abolished by the new republican Constitution was imposed in 1990. The elections of 1992 and 1994 saw all 70 members elected from communal constituencies with Indians allocated 27 seats were as opposed to 37 to ethnic Fijians. A further 5 seats were allocated to minority groups.

Constitutional changes in 1997

A constitutional review in 1997 introduced a new system, with 71 members. 25 are elected by universal suffrage from Open constituencies ("open" meaning that the franchise is open to all locally resident Fijian citizens, irrespective of their ethnic background), with the remaining 46 elected from communal constituencies, with 23 seats reserved for ethnic Fijians, 19 for Indians, 1 for Rotuman Islanders, and 3 for "General Electors" - Europeans, Chinese, Banaban Islanders, and other minorities. Every Fijian citizen eligible to vote thus has two votes - one for an open electorate, and one for a communal electorate. The open constituencies used differed from the former national constituencies in that while both comprise all registered voters on a common voters' roll, regardless of race, the open constituencies may be contested by members of any ethnic group whereas the national constituencies were ethnically allocated.

Constitutional changes in 2013
Following the coup of 2006, a new constitution was introduced in 2013 to take Fiji to democracy. It is the first constitution to eliminate race based electoral rolls, race-base seat quotas, district based representation, the non-elected Senate (upper house) and the role of the hereditary Council of Chiefs in Government. Legislative authority is vested in a single-chamber 50 seat Parliament. Election is to be held using the open list in one single national constituency using party list proportional representation. There is a threshold of 5% of the the vote for a list to get representation. It lowered the voting age to 18. First election under this constitution was held in 2014. The number of seats in future Parliaments will be adjusted to maintain the 2014 ratio of the number of members of Parliament to the population of Fiji.