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The second general election since independence was held from 19 March to 2 April 1977.

 

Qualification to be registered as a voter

Any person may be registered as voter on a roll if he is a citizen of Fiji and has attained the age of 21 years. The insane, those owing allegiance to a State outside the British Commonwealth, those under sentence of death or imprisonment for a term exceeding 12 months, and those guilty of offences connected with elections may not be registered. Voting was not compulsory.

 

Composition of the House of Representatives

The House of Representatives consisted of 52 members elected for 5 years on the following basis:

— Fijian: 12 members elected by voters on the Fijian Communal Roll;

    10 members elected by voters on the National Roll.

— Indian: 12 members elected by voters on the Indian Communal Roll;

   10 members elected by voters on the National Roll.

— General (persons neither Fijian, other Pacific Islanders, nor Indians):

   3 members elected by voters on the General Communal Roll;

   5 members elected on the National Roll.

The " National Roll" consists of all registered electors on the 3 Communal Rolls.

 

Qualification to be a candidate

Any voter shall be qualified to be elected as member of the House of Representatives,  however, the following are disqualified:

- any one who is an undischarged bankrupt is disqualified.
- who holds a public office;
- who has in the preceding 3 years held certain government posts;
- who is interested in certain government contracts;

- who holds any office connected with an election to the House.

 

Candidatures must be submitted on a nomination paper signed by 6 to 8 voters of the subject constituency, and accompanied by a deposit of $100.

 

Constituencies

Fiji is divided into 9 constituencies, each returning one communally elected Fijian member; into 9 constituencies each returning one communally elected Indian member; and into 3 constituencies each returning 1 communally elected General member. For the National Roll elections there are 10 constituencies, each returning a Fijian and an Indian member, and these are combined into 5 pairs for the purpose of each returning 1 General member.

 

Constituency boundaries are delimited by a Constituency Boundaries Commission.

 

Each voter is entitled to cast 4 votes: 1 in respect of the Communal Roll constituency in which he is registered, and 3 in respect of the National Roll constituencies in which he is registered

 

Election Result
As in 1972, the two main contenders for the 52 House seats were the ruling Alliance Party, led by outgoing Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, and the National Federation Party (NFP), headed by Mr. Siddiq Koya. On election day, the Alliance lost a number of seats but neither of the two major parties was able to claim an overall House majority (27 seats). Despite the fact that the NFP won the most seats (26), the Governor- General asked the defeated Prime Minister, whose party won only 24 seats, to form a minority Government. This touched off strong protests by the NFP. On June 1, the Governor- General dissolved Parliament after the Government was defeated in a vote of confidence. New elections were held in September 1977.