1905 Fijian general election

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

Background edit

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 Council of Chiefs.[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 edit

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 edit

Constituency Candidate Votes % Notes
Levuka David Robbie Unopposed Elected
Planters James Burton Turner 127 23.7 Elected
James Murray 118 22.1 Elected
Adam Coubrough 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
William McRae 59 22.6 Elected
Simeon Lewis Lazarus 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
George Fox 6 2.3
G. L. Griffiths 3 1.1
Informal 6
Source: Ali

Aftermath edit

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

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

References edit

  1. ^ 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