1959 Fijian general election

General elections were held in Fiji in September 1959, the last in which women and ethnic Fijians were still barred from voting. Voting took place in the Eastern constituencies between 5 and 12 September, and in the Northern and Western and Southern constituencies on 12 September.[1]

Electoral system

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The Legislative Council consisted of 32 members, including 16 'official' members who were civil servants, fifteen 'unofficial' members (five Europeans, five Fijians and five Indo-Fijians), and the Governor sitting as President of the Council.

For Europeans and Indo-Fijians, three of the five representatives were elected from single-member constituencies, with the other two appointed by the Governor. All five Fijian members were appointed from a list of ten candidates submitted by the Great Council of Chiefs.[2]

Voting for Europeans remained restricted to men aged 21 or over who had been born to European parents (or a European father and was able to read, speak and write English), who were British subjects and had been continuously resident in Fiji for 12 months, and who either owned at least £20 of freehold or leasehold property or had an annual income of at least £120.[2] For Indo-Fijians, eligibility was also restricted to men aged 21 or over. They had to be a British subject or from British India, have lived continuously in the Fiji for at least two years, be able to read or write in English, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu or Urdu, and for the previous six months, have either owned property with an annual value of five years, had a net annual cash income of at least £75, or held a Government or municipal licence worth at least £5 annually.[2]

Results

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Constituency Candidate Votes % Notes
European members
Eastern Harold Brockett Gibson 240 58.5 Re-elected
Leslie Martin 170 41.5
Informal votes 27
Northern and Western Ronald Kermode 292 56.7 Re-elected
James Sinclair White 197 38.3
Nathaniel Chalmers 26 5.0
Informal votes 20
Southern John Falvey 462 74.0 Re-elected
Sergius Tetzner 162 26.0
Informal votes 31
Total 1,627 100
Registered voters/turnout 1,985 82.0
Indo-Fijian members
Eastern Vijay R. Singh 864 50.3 Elected
Jamnadas Kanji 494 28.8
Muhammed Khan 360 21.0
Informal votes 33
Northern and Western B. D. Lakshman 2,637 38.4 Elected
James Madhavan 2,158 31.4 Unseated[a]
Ayodhya Prasad 2,075 30.2 Unseated
Informal votes 88
Southern Andrew Deoki 1,877 58.3 Elected
K. B. Singh 950 29.5
Chambadan Manakadan Gopalan 221 6.9
Devendra Pathik 89 2.8
Odin Ramrakha 82 2.5
Informal votes 76
Total 12,004 100
Registered voters/turnout 14,069 85.3
Source: Fiji Elections, Pacific Islands Monthly
  1. ^ Madhavan had been elected in the Eastern constituency in the 1956 elections but contested the Northern and Western seat in 1959.

Nominated members

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Europeans
Charles Cayzer
John Moore
Fijians
Edward Cakobau
George Cakobau
Penaia Ganilau
Semesa Sikivou
Ravuama Vunivalu
Indo-Fijians
Sathi Narain
A. H. Sahu Khan
Source: Fiji Elections

Aftermath

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A by-election was held in the Indian Eastern constituency in 1961, which was won by James Madhavan.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Blood and Old Fiji LegCo Pacific Islands Monthly, August 1959, p143
  2. ^ a b c 1940 Legislative Council Election Fiji Elections Archive
  3. ^ 1959 Fiji Legislative Council elections Fiji Elections