1994 Fijian general election

1994 Fijian general election

18–25 February 1994
All 70 seats in the House of Representatives 35 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   NFP Leader Sitiveni Rabuka Jai Ram Reddy Mahendra Chaudhry Party SVT NFP Labour Last election 30 seats 12 seats 13 seats Seats won 31 20 7 Seat change 1 8 6 Popular vote 145,041 63,097 51,951 Percentage 40.91% 17.79% 14.65% Swing 2.73pp 1.72pp 1.42pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Josefata Kamikamica None Party FAP GVP ANC Last election — 5 seats 0 seats Seats won 5 4 1 Seat change New 1 1 Popular vote 34,976 4,339 21,808 Percentage 9.86% 1.22% 6.15% Swing New 0.22pp 1.8pp
Prime Minister before election Sitiveni Rabuka SVT Elected Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka SVT

General elections were held in Fiji between 18 and 25 February 1994. This election, the second since Fiji had become a republic following two military coups in 1987, was brought about by splits within the ruling Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT) and by the withdrawal of the support of the Fiji Labour Party, which claimed that Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka had reneged on a deal to review Fiji's electoral system, which was heavily weighted in favour of ethnic Fijians, despite their being nearly equal in number to Indo-Fijians.

The elections produced little change among the 38 seats in the House of Representatives that were reserved for ethnic Fijians and Rotuman Islanders. The SVT won 33 seats, and the Fijian Association Party of former Finance Minister Josefata Kamikamica won five. The Fijian Nationalist Party of Sakeasi Butadroka, which advocated the forced repatriation of all Fijians of Indian descent, lost the three seats that it had won in the previous election. The five "general electorates," reserved for Fiji's European, Chinese, and other minorities, showed similarly little change, with the General Voters Party winning four seats and the All Nationals Congress, one. There was a very significant change in the composition of the 27 Indo-Fijian seats, however. The Fiji Labour Party lost 6 of its 13 seats, with the National Federation Party winning the remaining 20. The NFP leader, Jai Ram Reddy, enjoyed a personal rapport with Rabuka; although they did not enter into a formal coalition, their negotiations led to a substantial overhaul of the Fijian Constitution which paved the way for the historic election of 1999, which brought Fiji's first Indo-Fijian Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, to power.

Following the 1994 election, Rabuka formed a coalition with the General Voters Party and remained Prime Minister.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei	145,091	40.91	31	+1
	National Federation Party	63,097	17.79	20	+6
	Fiji Labour Party	51,951	14.65	7	−6
	Fijian Association Party	34,976	9.86	5	New
	All Nationals Congress	21,808	6.15	1	+1
	Fijian Nationalist Party	14,446	4.07	0	−3
	Soqosoqo ni Taukei ni Vanua	6,417	1.81	0	−2
	General Voters Party	4,339	1.22	4	−1
	Independents	12,549	3.54	2	−1
Total		354,674	100.00	70	0
Valid votes		237,307	99.06
Invalid/blank votes		2,260	0.94
Total votes		239,567	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		330,092	72.58
Source: Nohlen et al., IPU

See also

• List of members of the Parliament of Fiji (1994–1999)