1992 Fijian general election
General elections were held in Fiji between 23 and 30 May 1992.[ 1] military coups in 1987 had severed Fiji's 113-year-old constitutional links with the British Monarchy , and later Fijian Monarchy , and ushered in a republic.
The 1992 elections were the first to be held under the new electoral system, which was deliberately biased in favour of ethnic Fijians . National constituencies , elected by universal suffrage and comprising almost half of the House of Representatives under the 1970 constitution , were abolished, and for the first time, all members of the House of Representatives were elected from communal constituencies on closed electoral rolls , for registered members of a particular ethnic group. 37 seats were allocated to ethnic Fijians and only 27 to Indo-Fijians , despite the near-equality of their numbers in the population; one seat was reserved for a representative of the Rotuman Islanders , with five constituencies reserved for General electors (an omnibus category for various minorities including Europeans, Chinese, and Banaban Islanders ).
The Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei led by Sitiveni Rabuka , who had instigated the 1987 coups, won 30 of the 38 seats reserved for ethnic Fijians and Rotuman; the remaining eight were won by the extremist Fijian Nationalist Party of Sakeasi Butadroka (three seats), the Soqosoqo ni Taukei ni Vanua (two seats) and independents (three). The 27 Indo-Fijian electorates were almost equally divided between the National Federation Party (which won 14 seats) and the Fiji Labour Party (13). All five of the "general electorates" were won by the General Voters Party .
Results
Party Votes % Seats +/– Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei 154,656 43.64 30 New National Federation Party 56,951 16.07 14 – Fiji Labour Party 56,948 16.07 13 – Fijian Nationalist United Front 29,722 8.39 3 +3 All Nationals Congress 28,189 7.95 0 New Soqosoqo ni Taukei ni Vanua 9,321 2.63 2 +2 General Voters Party 5,079 1.43 5 New Fijian Indian Liberal Party 1,783 0.50 0 New Independents 11,708 3.30 3 +3 Total 354,357 100.00 70 +18 Valid votes 236,599 98.74 Invalid/blank votes 3,013 1.26 Total votes 239,612 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 316,765 75.64 Source: Nohlen et al .
See also
References
