1905 Fijian general election

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General elections were held in Fiji on 22 March and 8 April 1905.[1]

Background[]

The previous general elections had been held in 1871. Although fresh elections had been due to take place in 1873, they were cancelled after protests from Europeans about the plans to let Fijians vote.[2]

In 1904 a new Legislative Council was established, consisting of ten official members from the civil service, six elected Europeans and two Fijians chosen by the Governor from a list of six candidates provided by the .[1] Although Indo-Fijians were able to vote in municipal elections, voting practices in the community were considered suspect and the Governor noted that he "did not consider it necessary to provide for the representation of the Indians and Pacific Islanders because they had shown themselves open to corruption at the municipal elections."[3] Instead, the Indo-Fijian community was represented only by the Agent-General for Immigration, one of the six civil servants in the Council.[1]

Electoral system[]

The new constitution originally envisaged six elected members elected from four constituencies, of which two were geographic (the two-seat constituency of Suva and the one-seat constituency of Levuka) and two based on profession (a two-seat constituency of people involved in cultivating land for anything except sugar with at least 100 acres and a one-seat constituency for directors and managers of sugar companies). People involved in cultivating land were not eligible to vote in the geographic constituencies.[1]

However, prior to the elections, the electoral system was revised to combine the two non-geographic constituencies into a three-seat "Planters" constituency, which covered all of Fiji except Levuka and Suva.[1][4] Voting was held in the Planters constituency on 8 April and in Suva on 22 March.[1]

Results[]

Constituency Candidate Votes % Notes
Levuka David Robbie Unopposed Elected
Planters 127 23.7 Elected
118 22.1 Elected
86 16.1 Elected
E. F. Powell 77 14.4
H. Shaw 73 13.6
J. H. Garrick 32 6.0
J. McConnell 22 4.1
Informal votes 11 –
Suva Henry Marks 74 28.4 Elected
59 22.6 Elected
57 21.8
L. E. Brown 28 10.7
A. H. Ogilve 20 7.7
L. E. Benjamin 8 3.1
J. Callaghan 6 2.3
6 2.3
G. L. Griffiths 3 1.1
Informal 6 –
Source: Ali

Aftermath[]

Following the elections and Joni Madraiwiwi were appointed as the Fijian members. Lala died later in the year and his place was taken by .[5]

resigned during the term of the Council. In the subsequent by-election, defeated H. Shaw by 105 to 62 votes, with four informal votes cast.[6]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f 1905 Legislative Council Election Fiji Elections Archive
  2. ^ 1871 Legislative Assembly Election Fiji Elections Archive
  3. ^ John D. Kelly (1991) A Politics of Virtue: Hinduism, Sexuality, and Countercolonial Discourse in Fiji, University of Chicago Press, p76
  4. ^ "Fiji: Legislative Council's Election", The New Zealand Herald, 19 April 2015, p5
  5. ^ 1905 Fiji Legislative Council elections Fiji Elections
  6. ^ Ahmed Ali Fiji and the Franchise: A History of Political Representation, 1900–1937
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