National Federation Party (Fiji)
Encyclopedia : N : NA : NAT : National Federation Party (Fiji)
| History of Fiji |
Discovery The rise and fall of Cakobau Colonial Fiji Fiji since 1970 Main article Constitutional crisis of 1977 Coups of 1987 Coup of 2000 Main article Timeline - Mutinies Aftermath - Allegations Mara deposed - Iloilo plot Investigations - Trials Court Martial - Military unrest Reconciliation Commission Main article Supporters - Opponents Qualified positions Military opposition Religious reaction Military-church relations Foreign reaction Crisis of 2005-2006 Main article Timeline Baledrokadroka incident Reaction |
| Politics - [[Portal:Politics>Politics portal]] Fiji
Foreign affairs
The National Federation Party is a Fijian political party founded by A.D. Patel in 1960 as a merger of the Federation Party and the National Democratic Party. Though it claimed to represent all Fiji Islanders, it was supported, in practice, almost exclusively by Indo-Fijians whose ancestors had come to Fiji, mostly as indentured labourers, between 1879 and 1916.
The party played an important role in the negotiations that led to Fiji's independence from the United Kingdom in 1970. Their original demand for a universal franchise threatened to stall the independence process, but at a conference in London in April 1970, Sidiq Koya, who had succeeded to the leadership on Patel's death in 1969, eventually negotiated a compromise with Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, the leader of the Alliance Party, the main ethnic Fijian-dominated party. According to this compromise, ethnic Fijians and Indo-Fijians would each be allocated 22 seats, with 12 representing Communal constituencies (comprising voters registered as members of a particular ethnic group) and a further 10 representing National constituencies (distributed by ethnicity but elected by universal suffrage) in the 52 member House of Representatives. A further 8 seats would be reserved for General electors (Europeans, Chinese, and other minorities); 3 of these would be "communal" and 5 "national."
The inability of the NFP to make significant inroads into the ethnic Fijian vote kept the party in opposition in the years following independence. In the March 1977 election, however, a split in the ethnic Fijian vote enabled the NFP to win a plurality in the House of Representatives. Internal dissension, however, prevented the party from forming a government, as the party fractured over disputes about the leadership and the allocation of ministerial positions. The Governor-General, Ratu Sir George Cakobau, reappointed the defeated Prime Minister, Ratu Mara, and ordered a new election for September that year, in which the NFP was heavily defeated. For more information, see Fiji Constitutional Crisis of 1977.
The party recovered sufficiently to come close to winning the 1982 election. By the mid-1980s, however, they had concluded that the ethnic Fijian community was not ready to accept an Indo-Fijian Prime Minister. For the 1987 election, therefore, they formed an electoral coalition with the Fiji Labour Party under the leadership of Timoci Bavadra, an ethnic Fijian. The coalition won the election, but the new government was overthrown a month later in a military coup led by Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka.
A new Constitution was promulgated, providing for a built-in ethnic Fijian majority in the legislature. This condemned the NFP to permanent opposition status. When the government agreed to revise the Constitution in 1997, however, the NFP, now led by Jai Ram Reddy, played a key role in the ensuing negotiations, which resulted in the removal of the guaranteed ethnic Fijian majority from Parliament. In the election that followed in 1999, the NFP surprised many observers by forming an electoral coalition with the Fijian Political Party, led by their former enemy, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka. This may have been a tactical mistake: many Indo-Fijians had not forgiven Rabuka for his role in the overthrow of the Bavadra government and the subsequent drafting of a constitution that they widely considered to be racist, and the NFP, for the first time in 36 years, lost all of its seats in the House of Representatives.
The NFP contested the 2001 election, on a platform calling for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to look into the Fiji coup of 2000, which had deposed the elected government of Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, the removal of Value added tax from basic items, reduction of telephone and postal bills, national healthcare insurance for all workers, and consolidation of the independence of the judiciary. Its fortunes sank further, however. The NFP ended up with only about ten percent of the popular vote and only one parliamentary seat - which it subsequently lost in a court challenge. The party's refusal to agree to a preference deal with its one-time ally, the Fiji Labour Party, also worked against it. (Fiji has a system of preferential voting, similar to Australia's).
There have been signs of a modest revival of fortunes for the NFP. Municipal elections in October 2003, for which the party formed an electoral coalition with Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL), gave the party control of six municipalities, either in its own right or together with the SDL. Its more significant victories included gaining control of the Nadi Town Council and reelecting Chandu Umaria as Mayor of Suva. In the 2005 municipal polls, their performance was more modest, but Ba and Nadi remained in NFP hands, while an NFP/SDL coalition retained its hold on Sigatoka. In Suva, despite losing some seats, the NFP still out-polled the Fiji Labour Party, its arch-rival for the Indo-Fijian vote.
Recently, the party has attempted to modernize itself. Under the presidency of Dorsami Naidu, the party has made an effort to broaden its appeal to women and the disadvantaged. On 11 April 2005, Naidu announced that that NFP now regarded itself as a multiracial party and would attempt to win the support of all ethnic communities in Fiji.
In 2005, the NFP has been at the forefront of opposition to the government's controversial proposal to establish a Reconciliation and Unity Commission, with the power (subject to presidential approval), to grant compensation to victims of the coup d'état that deposed the elected government in 2000, and amnesty to persons convicted of offenses related to it. On 14 May 2005, Naidu called legislation to establish the commission "an act of terrorism", and on 20 May he went on to call for public demonstrations against the bill, which he said was "just a cover for providing amnesty to people who committed the May 2000 coup crime acts." On 27 June, Naidu announced that the NFP had started a petition against the bill, and expected to gather 150,000 signatures. The party was sending copies of the petition, along with a statement of the party's objections to the bill in English, Fijian, and Hindustani to all schools, other organizations, and islands in Fiji. Naidu said the party was opposed not only to the amnesty provisions of the legislation, but also to its compensation provisions, saying that the taxpayer should not have to foot the bill. "Those part and parcel of the 2000 coup should have their properties seized and sold to pay compensation to those affected," Naidu said. He thought, moreover, that those wanting to claim compensation should do so through the courts. He said that the petition would be presented to the parliamentary committee on Justice, Law and Order, along with the party's submission.
Naidu resigned from the presidency of the party in July 2005, following his arrest on common assault and sexual assault charges. At the party's annual conference attended by more than 600 delegates in Nausori on 31 July, Raman Pratap Singh, a lawyer and former parliamentarian, was elected to replace him.
A priority for the NFP is to attempt to revive sufficient support to gain Parliamentary representation in the general election scheduled for 2006. On 12 August 2005, Pramod Rae said the party was experiencing financial difficulties. Speaking on Radio Sargam, he denied perceptions that the NFP was a "rich man's party" and said that sometimes it could not afford telephone bills, and was having to go door to door asking for donations to keep it going. Many businessmen who had once supported the NFP were now supporting the Fiji Labour Party (FLP), he lamented.
Under Fiji's so-called alternative ballot system, votes cast for low-polling candidates may be transferred to higher-polling candidates, as specified by the candidates. These transferred votes are known as "preferences." Rae said on 20 August that in pursuing negotiations with other parties for exchanges of preferences, the NFP would aim to hold the centre ground in Fijian politics and would forge alliances with parties that shared its philosophy. "The party is ready to lead the country out of the unstable racial situation it is in to a united, stable and harmonious nation to ensure there is social, political and economic advancement," Rae told the August conference. He claimed that NFP stood alone among Fiji's parties in remaining loyal to its founding ideology. "The baic difference between NFP and other political parties is that the NFP preaches and practices politics of honesty, consensus, moderation and tolerance while the major parties indulge in politics of rhetoric and misinterpretation," he said.
At the public launch on 3 October of its campaign for the Ba Town Council's municipal election (due on 22 October), Rae declared that while a final decision had not been made, sentiment within the party was inclined to avoid entangling alliances with either the FLP or the ruling SDL, both of which he called "extremes." Instead, the party should seek to strengthen its own position while cultivating alliances with parties that shared its moderate policies. He also said that the upcoming municipal election would be a trial run for the 2006 general election, with results showing where they needed to concentrate their resources and personnel.
NFP Treasurer Ashok Bal Govind said on 21 October that neither the FLP nor the SDL had "good policies," and that the NFP would wait to see whether parties with "better policies" emerged before deciding on any electoral pacts.
On 27 October, Rae denied claims made by the FLP that the NFP had sealed an electoral pact with the SDL. He said that the party was in no hurry to make a decision about where to send its "preferences" (transferred ballots), but pointed out that a party resolution had favoured authorizing local branches to make their own decisions about preference deals. FLP leader Mahendra Chaudhry rejected the NFP's denials. He said that coalition arrangements made at the municipal level for local body elections held in October 2005 made it clear that the NFP was leaning towards a deal with the SDL, and called on the NFP to front up openly with the public. On 8 November, however, Rae reiterated his earlier statement that the NFP was not "preoccupied" with negotiating preferences, and denied that any deals had been made with any political party.
On 29 November, Rae announced that the party had established three preparatory committees: one to screen potential candidates, one to work on the party's manifesto, and one to liaise with other parties. Any electoral pacts with other parties would come with conditions, Rae said. He also revealed that some "prominent individuals" have expressed interest in standing under the NFP banner, but declined to name them.
On 7 December 2005, the NFP named a 3-member "Negotiating Committee," charged with negotiating electoral pacts with other political parties for the parliamentary election due in 2006. Chaired by Trade Unionist Attar Singh, the committee also includes Praveen Bala (Mayor of Ba Town), and Prem Singh (a former parliamentary leader of the NFP).
Party President Raman Pratap Singh revealed on 15 February 2006 that the party urgently needed F$500,000 to prepare for the upcoming elections. The party would be making a greater effort than in previous elections to win votes from the indigenous Fijian electorate, to offset a decline in the numbers of Indo-Fijian voters, he said.
Rae announced on 25 February 2006 that a decision would be made in the following week as to which party to give its electoral preferences to. The NFP would be cautious in making its decision, he said, because both the FLP and the SDL had betrayed the NFP's trust in the past, reneging on preference deals after the elections were over. FLP Parliamentarian Lekh Ram Vayeshnoi, however, ridiculed Rae's claim that the FLP had broken such a deal following the 1999 election, saying that in that election the NFP had preferenced the Fijian Political Party (SVT) and not the FLP, as Rae claimed.
By 7 March, however, the NFP had still not reached a decision on preferencing either the FLP or the SDL. Talks with both parties, and other parties, were ongoing, party President Raman Pratap Singh told the Fiji Sun.
At the August conference, the party decided that a preference deal with the ruling SDL in the parliamentary election scheduled for 2006 would be conditional on the government withdrawing its Reconciliation and Unity Bill. In the last election in 2001, a similar deal, which allowed votes cast for low-polling NFP candidates to be transferred to the SDL, was crucial to the SDL victory under Fiji's transferable voting system. "You are in power today because of our preferential votes NFP gave you in 2001," said Pramod Rae, the general secretary of the party. "If you are going to pass this bill, do not count on us. We will not support you if you rail road this evil bill in Parliament."
Prime Minister Qarase reacted by saying that he would seek alliances with other Indo-Fijian dominated parties if the NFP withdrew its preferences. While admitting that his party owed several seats to the NFP, he told the Fiji Live news service that they were dependent on his party's preferences also. "They too will need our preferences because if they want to win seats they can win it through the preferences of SDL," he said. He called Rae's threat "immature and a bit irresponsible." The SDL was always willing to work with the NFP, he said.
On 20 August, party president Pratap Singh reiterated that if the SDL wanted NFP preferences, the Unity Bill would have to be withdrawn.
Following a comment by Prime Minister Qarase on 12 September 2005 that parties led by indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians needed each other for the 2006 election, NFP President Raman Pratap Singh reiterated that his party would ask for the amnesty clauses to be excised from the controversial Unity Bill, as the price for its electoral preferences. Singh also criticized comments made at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference in Nadi by Justice Michael Scott that the constitutional provisions requiring a multi-party Cabinet were well-intended but impractical. Singh said that Scott's judgement was undoubtedly based on the failure of Prime Minister Qarase and Opposition Leader Mahendra Chaudhry to cooperate, but this in no way meant that the concept was flawed, he insisted. "The power sharing provisions in the constitution negotiated by the former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and former NFP and Opposition Leader Jai Ram Reddy was the achievement of visionary leaders who placed their respective communities and nation above personal interests," Singh said. He said it was imperative that party leaders cooperate and negotiate, to create inclusive governments.
Pramod Rae confirmed on 13 September that negotiations were on the cards, but had not yet taken place. There was no rush, he said, as the elections were still a long way ahead.
On 14 September, Qarase responded by saying that preconditions were unacceptable. The controversial bill was a separate issue from the matter of preference-sharing, and that only the latter would be discussed at this stage.
NFP officials met with their SDL counterparts in the last week of February 2006 to discuss possible electoral agreements. The talks coincided with negotiations between the NFP and the Fiji Labour Party.
Fiji Village reported on 9 March 2006 that Prime Minister Qarase had offered the NFP Cabinet posts, assuming the party wins parliamentary representation, in exchange for a preference deal.
A meeting, described as a "courtesy call", took place between officials of the NFP and the FLP on 18 August 2005. Preferential voting was among the topics discussed, but no serious negotiations were entered into, with both parties indicating that such a move would be premature. Nevertheless, a flurry of media speculation followed, with several major news services reporting in early September that the two parties were close to reaching a deal. Comments by FLP officials led credence to these rumours. On 7 September, the NFP's Pratap Singh denied that any such agreement was imminent, stating that the NFP had held no talks with FLP officials on any cooperative arrangements. Party secretary Pramod Rae concurred: "We are open to discussion," he said. ''"But at this stage there is nothing. We will have to see what their party policies are, if they are similar then we will share preferences."
On 19 September, however, Pratap Singh distanced himself and his party from the speculation that a deal with the FLP was likely. The NFP did not believe that the FLP truly represented the Indo-Fijian community, he said, who had gained nothing from what he called the "confrontational" posturing of the FLP.
FLP leader Mahendra Chaudhry claimed on 19 October that Pratap Singh and other NFP officials were unwilling to meet representatives of the FLP. The Labour Party would therefore concentrate on maximizing its own vote in the first count, rather than relying on votes to be transferred from other parties like the NFP. Then, on 4 November, NFP Assistant General Secretary Kamal Iyer denied allegations made by Chaudhry, that the NFP had effectively asked the FLP to hand over Indian communal constituencies, all of them currently held by the FLP. "They want something for nothing and their proposal is simply not on," Chaudhry had said after addressing three sugar cane farmers' meetings in Ba Province. Iyer denied that his party had presented any such proposal to the FLP, or to any party for that matter.
The FLP announced on 13 February 2006 that it was willing to put aside political differences - but only if the NFP would reciprocate. The NFP responded by calling this offer a misleading electoral tactic, Fiji Television reported. The NFP strongly denied Chaudhry's claim that the NFP leader had failed to appear at a scheduled meeting in late 2005, and rejected the allegation that they had already agreed to give their preferences to the SDL. Nevertheless, the NFP was willing to talk to the FLP, Pramod Rae said.
The Mayor of Ba Town and President of the NFP's youth movement, Praveen Bala, told his party's youth rally in Ba on 13 February that it was the FLP, not the NFP, that was to blame for disunity among Indo-Fijians, and that rift would remain until the FLP showed a genuine interest in talking with the NFP. According to the Fiji Times (16 February edition), Bala told the eighty or so youth delegates that prior to the municipal elections of October 2005, the NFP had offered a power-sharing deal to the FLP, as well as the SDL and a party representing minority communities, under which the four parties would present a joint ticket (8 NFP candidates, 3 FLP, 3 SDL, and 1 minority candidate) - a gesture of good will, he said, as the NFP had unanimously dominated the council for so long. The FLP had refused the offer he said - and had been left with no seats on the council at all.
On 22 February, party President Raman Pratap Singh announced that a meeting with FLP officials had been scheduled for later in the week. General Secretary Pramod Rae criticized the FLP for choosing to be represented by United Peoples Party (UPP) President Mick Beddoes and Party of National Unity (PANU) leader Ponipate Lesavua, rather than by its own leader, Mahendra Chaudhry. Chaudhry rejected the criticism, saying that senior FLP parliamentarian Krishna Datt would be accompanying Beddoes and Lesavua. The scheduled meeting took place on 24 February with Attar Singh leading the NFP delegation; conflicting reports surfaced in the local media as to whether the talks had concluded positively or in failure.
According to the Fiji Sun (27 February 2006), NFP trustee Attar Singh accused the FLP of having stolen the NFP's 1982 election manifesto and using it for the 1999 election. FLP Parliamentarian Lekh Ram Vayshnoi rejected the charge as false.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating. | ||||||||||||||