1953 Fijian general election explained

General elections were held in Fiji on 29 August 1953.[1]

Electoral system

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]

Campaign

Leaders of the Muslim Indo-Fijian community urged a boycott of the elections, calling for separate representation and for Urdu to be taught instead of Hindi.[3]

Results

ConstituencyCandidateVotes%Notes
European members
align=left rowspan=3EasternHarold Brockett Gibson22749.7Re-elected
Fred Archibald21046.0
William Edmund Willoughby-Tottenham204.4
Northern and WesternMaurice ScottUnopposedRe-elected
align=left rowspan=3SouthernJohn Falvey48759.8Elected
James Burton Turner23829.2
Charles Phillips8910.9
Indo-Fijian members
align=left rowspan=2EasternJames Madhavan88655.7Re-elected
Odin Ramrakha70644.3
align=left rowspan=5Northern and WesternAyodhya Prasad2,04347.5Elected
A. D. Patel1,91944.6
Tulsi Ram Sharma2806.5Unseated
Babubhai Patel541.3
Hari Shankar50.1
align=left rowspan=3SouthernVishnu Deo2,36564.5Re-elected
Hari Charan1,28835.1
Hari Charan Akheel120.3
align=left colspan=5Source: Pacific Islands Monthly

Nominated members

TypeMember
Unofficial members
EuropeansStanley Cowled
William Granger Johnson
FijiansEdward Cakobau
Kamisese Mara
Indo-FijiansK. S. Reddy
Abdul Samad
Official members
Accountant GeneralW.E. Donovan
Commissioner of PoliceE.K. Laws
Comptroller of CustomsA.R. Smith
Director of AgricultureC. Harvey
Director of EducationG. Arthur
Director of LabourC.S. Reay
Director of LandsR.V. Cole
Director of Medical ServicesJ.M. Cruikshank
Director of Public WorksJ.P. Bruen
Secretary for Fijian AffairsLala Sukuna
AppointedGeorge Cakobau
C.R. Nott
Brahmanand Raghvanand
Ex officio
Attorney GeneralBrian Andre Doyle
Colonial SecretaryH.W. Davidson
Financial SecretaryE.R. Bevington
Source: Fiji Elections, Pacific Islands Monthly

Notes and References

  1. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-325566036/view?partId=nla.obj-325591071#page/n17/mode/1up/ Fiji Election Results: Few Changes in New Legco
  2. http://www.oocities.org/girmitya/FijiElections/1940.htm 1940 Legislative Council Election
  3. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-325566036/view?partId=nla.obj-325602001#page/n76/mode/1up/ Tropicalities