Fiji elections - a dream run!

The Alliance Party in Fiji had a dream run through August-September with its electioneering. The election, late in September, was expected to. confirm the Alliance in office. The main opposition, the National Federa tion Party, was sharply divided into two factions, one led by Mr S. M. Koya, Leader of the Opposition in the last two parliaments, and the other by law yer Karam Ramrakha and Mrs Jai Narayan.

The NFP tore itself to pieces while its hapless supporters looked on. With NFP candidates opposing each other in many seats, and with first-past-the post voting, the chances of substantial representation in the new parliament seemed remote.

Another lift for the Alliance were blows to the Fijian Nationalist Party, with one leader bankrupt and disqualified from standing, another languish ing in gaol.

The second election in 1977 became necessary when the Alliance Party suffered a reverse in the March-April elections, winning only 24 of the 52 seats. The NFP won 26 seats and one went to an FNP candidate and one to an independent. Because of disunity in the NFP the Governor-General, Ratu Sir George Cakobau, called on the Alliance Party to form a govern ment.

Inevitably, the Alliance Party was unable to control parliament, and the only way out of the impasse was a general election.