Premium
The Triumph of the Non‐Idealist Intellectuals? An Investigation of Fiji's 1999 Election Results
Author(s) -
Fraenkel Jon
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
australian journal of politics and history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.123
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1467-8497
pISSN - 0004-9522
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8497.00087
Subject(s) - victory , indigenous , alliance , voting , democracy , political science , prime minister , representation (politics) , political economy , politics , general election , proportional representation , law , sociology , ecology , biology
This paper examines the results of Fiji's 1999 elections. It looks at the reasons for the overwhelming victory of the Fiji Labour Party and the extent of voting across Fiji's racial divide. The paper argues that there was, in fact, very small indigenous Fijian support for the FLP. The victory of the Fiji Labour Party instead owed its origins to (i) the collapse in the vote for the major rival Indo‐Fijian party, the National Federation Party, (ii) the rise of the newly‐formed Christian Democratic Alliance and the associated fall in the vote for the former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka's SVT and (iii) the introduction of the preferential voting system. The paper concludes with a critical examination of the new voting system, arguing that proportional representation might be better suited for Fiji's specific political situation.