Constitution of Fiji: Chapter 6 - Part 2: The House of Representatives

Part 2: The House of Representatives

• See main articles: House of Representatives of Fiji; List of Speakers of the House of Representatives of Fiji

Part 2 of Chapter 6, comprising Sections 50 through 63, establishes the House of Representatives, commonly called the "Lower House" of the Parliament.

Sections 50 through 54 deal with the composition of the House. It is to consist of 71 members elected from single-member electorates by a system of transferable voting, under which the votes of the lowest-polling candidates are successively added to those of the second choice indicated by the voter. 25 members are to be elected by universal suffrage. The remaining 46 are to be elected by voters on closed electoral rolls representing Fiji's ethnic communities: 23 ethnic Fijians, 19 Indo-Fijians, 1 Rotuman Islander, and 3 "General Electors" (Europeans, Chinese, and other minorities). With the exception of 17 "provincial" electorates representing rural ethnic Fijians, which follow traditional provincial boundaries, all other electorates are to be substantially equal in population.

The make up of the House of Representatives was one of the most controversial sections issues to be decided by the constitution. It was not a new problem; it had delayed independence in the 1960s, and two previous constitutions, adopted in 1970 and 1990 had foundered on it. The 1970 Constitution had provided for a 52-member House, with 22 ethnic Fijians, 22 Indo-Fijians, and 8 General Electors, with approximately half of each ethnic group's representatives elected by a closed electoral roll and the remainder by universal suffrage. Hardline elements among the ethnic Fijian community resented the power this arrangement gave Indo-Fijian voters over ethnic Fijian representatives, especially in urban areas where Indo-Fijians were disproportionately concentrated, and was one of the reasons for the abrogation of this Constitution following the revolution of 1987. The 1990 Constitution abolished the common franchise, and established a 70-member House of Representatives elected on four closed electoral rolls: 37 ethnic Fijians, 27 Indo-Fijians, 1 Rotuman Islander, and 5 General Electors. Many Indo-Fijians bitterly resented the allocation to them of ten seats fewer than to ethnic Fijians, despite their being nearly equal in population. It also led to international condemnation, which helped to trigger the review of the constitution in the mid-1990s.

In the drawing up of the present constitution, many Indo-Fijians, including the Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry, pushed for a common roll and for the abolition of the communal electoral rolls, believing that it inhibited the formation of multi-racial political parties with a vision for the whole country; instead, voting typically followed ethnic rather than ideological lines. Many ethnic Fijians, however, wanted the specific allocation of seats to be elected by closed electoral rolls to be maintained, believing that their interests would not be adequately protected by politicians who were not answerable solely to ethnic Fijian voters. Under the mediation of Sir Paul Reeves, a former Governor-General of New Zealand, a compromise was worked out, according to which more than a third of the House of Representatives would be elected by universal sufferance and the remainder by ethnic voters on closed rolls, but with no single ethnic group allocated the 24 seats required to block constitutional amendments.

Sections 55 through 58 prescribe the qualifications a person must have, to be an elector for the House of Representatives. All Fijian citizens aged 21 or over, "or such other age as the Parliament prescribes," who have been physically resident in Fiji for the two years immediately prior to their registration, are entitled to enroll on (a) a Common Roll, as an elector for one of the 25 "open electorates," so-called because they are open to candidates of all races, elected by voters of all races, and (b) one of the four communal ethnic rolls, as an elector for a constituency reserved for one of the four recognized ethnic groups. Registration and voting are both compulsory.

For electoral purposes, this Section defines an ethnic Fijian as any descendant of a native inhabitant of Fiji (other than Rotuma). The Polynesian Rotuman Islanders are excluded, unless they also have some ethnic Fijian ancestry (predominantly Melanesian), because they have their own electoral roll. An Indo-Fijian is defined as any descendant of a native of the Indian Sub-continent, and therefore potentially includes people of Bengali, Bhutanese, Nepali, Pakistani, and Sri Lankan, as well as Indian, descent. Rotuman Islanders are defined as any descendant of an inhabitant of Rotuma. Ancestry may be traced through either the male or the female line, and there is no "blood quantum" - how close or how distant one's relationship to a particular ethnic group is irrelevant, provided that it can be proved.

The fourth electoral roll, for General Electors, is for people who have no ethnic Fijian, Indo-Fijian, or Rotuman ancestry, as well as for individuals who have such ancestry but choose, for whatever reason, not to register on the electoral roll reserved for their particular ethnic community. It is thus a very diverse roll; it includes Europeans, Chinese, Banaban Islanders, as well as small numbers of individuals of ethnic Fijian, Indo-Fijian, and Rotuman descent who have chosen this roll in preference to their ethnic roll.

The General Electors' roll has had an interesting history. Prior to 1997, it also included all persons who had an ethnic Fijian mother but a non-Fijian father, as ethnic identity was defined according to the male line, a fact which caused considerable resentment among the large numbers of "Part Europeans" (who had a European father or paternal grandfather) and "Chinese Fijians" (whose father or paternal grandfather was Chinese). The popular politician, James Ah Koy, appealed against the stipulation in the former 1990 Constitution that required him to register as a General Elector rather than as an ethnic Fijian, on account of his Chinese father, and it was partly due to his efforts that the 1997 Constitution allows ethnic identity to follow the line of either parent.

The Constitution is clear that a person is not permitted to be registered simultaneously on more than one ethnic roll. Persons of multiracial ancestry must make a choice as to which roll to register for, although they remain free to change their registration at any time.

Section 58 establishes the required qualifications of candidates for the House of Representatives. A candidate for an "open electorate" must be registered on the Common Roll, and a candidate for a communal ethnic electorate must be registered on the roll reserved for that particular group. No person is permitted to be nominated as a candidate for more than one electorate in a particular election. Undischarged bankrupts, and people deemed to have a conflict of interest as defined by law, are disqualified from being candidates.

Sections 59 through 63 set the term of the House of Representatives at a maximum of five years. Within seven days of the expiry of the five-year term, the Prime Minister must advise the President to issue writs for a general election. In certain circumstances, elections may be called sooner; these circumstances are spelled out elsewhere in the Constitution.

If a seat in the House of Representatives becomes vacant through the death, resignation, or disqualification of the person holding it, a byelection may be ordered to fill the vacancy. If the vacancy occurs in the final six months of the Parliamentary term, however, a byelection is not to be held.