House of Representatives of Fiji

The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of Fiji's Parliament. It is the more powerful of the two chambers; it alone has the power to initiate legislation (the Senate, by contrast, can amend or veto most legislation, but cannot initiate it). The House of Representatives also has much greater jurisdiction over financial bills; the Senate cannot amend them, although it may veto them. Except in the case of amendments to the Constitution, over which a veto of the Senate is absolute, the House of Representatives may override a Senatorial veto by passing the same bill a second time, in the parliamentary session immediately following the one in which it was rejected by the Senate, after a minimum period of six months.

Last but not least, the Prime Minister and Cabinet must retain the confidence of a majority of the House of Representatives in order to remain in office.

History

The House of Representatives in its present form dates from 10 October 1970, when Fiji attained independence from the United Kingdom. Under a grandfather clause in the 1970 Constitution, the old Legislative Council, which had functioned in various forms since 1904, was renamed the House of Representatives and continued in office until 1972, when the first post-independence elections were held. Membership of the House of Representatives was increased from 36 to 52 in 1972, and to 70 in 1992. It presently has 71 members, all of whom are elected for five-year terms to represent single-member constituencies.

Electoral system

* "See main articles: Electoral system of Fiji, Voting system of Fiji"

The electoral system has been changed a number of times since independence in an effort to meet the competing demands of Fiji's diverse ethnic communities. In elections from 1972 through 1987, Fiji was divided into "communal" and "national" constituencies. The former were elected by voters registered as members of specific ethnic groups (12 indigenous Fijians, 12 Indo-Fijians, and 3 General Electors - Caucasians, Chinese, and other minorities); the latter were allocated to specific ethnic groups (10 indigenous Fijians, 10 Indo-Fijians, and 5 General Electors), but elected by universal suffrage. The system was a compromise between indigenous demands for a strictly communal franchise (based on fears of being swamped by an Indo-Fijian block-vote) and Indo-Fijian calls for universal suffrage, and was never widely popular. Ethnic Fijian nationalists blamed the national constituencies for the election of an Indo-Fijian dominated government in 1987, and following two military coups, they were abolished by the new republican Constitution of 1990.

The elections of 1992 and 1994 saw all 70 members elected from communal constituencies; this system was widely resented by many Indo-Fijians, who complained that only 27 seats were allocated to them as opposed to 37 to ethnic Fijians, despite the near equality of their numbers at that time. A further 5 seats were allocated to minority groups.

A constitutional review in 1997 introduced a new system, with 71 members. 25 are elected by universal suffrage from Open constituencies ("open" meaning that the franchise is open to all locally resident Fijian citizens, irrespective of their ethnic background), with the remaining 46 elected from communal constituencies, with 23 seats reserved for ethnic Fijians, 19 for Indo-Fijians, 1 for Rotuman Islanders, and 3 for "General Electors" - Europeans, Chinese, Banaban Islanders, and other minorities. Every Fijian citizen eligible to vote thus has two votes - one for an open electorate, and one for a communal electorate. The system remains controversial, however.

The "open constituencies" used at present differ from the former "national constituencies" in that while both comprise all registered voters on a common voters' roll, regardless of race, the open constituencies may be contested by members of any ethnic group whereas the national constituencies were ethnically allocated.

Organization

At its first session following a general election, the House of Representatives elects a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker. With a view to ensuring impartiality, the Speaker is not allowed to be a member of the House, though he must qualify for membership. The Deputy Speaker, however, is elected from among members of the House.

Latest election

The current composition of the House of Representatives, together with its officers, is as follows:

Speaker and Deputy Speaker

Communal Electorates (Indo-Fijian)

External links

* [http://www.parliament.gov.fj Official Website of the Parliament of Fiji]
* [http://www.parliament.gov.fj/parliament/mp/hr.aspx House of Representatives]