1932 Fijian general election

none General elections were held in Fiji on 31 August 1932,Fiji Blue Book for the Year 1936, p103 although only one of the nine elected seats was contested. Electoral system The Legislative Council consisted of thirteen appointed Civil Servants, nine elected members (six Europeans and three Indo-Fijians) and three Fijians appointed from a list of between four and six potential candidates presented to the Governor by the Great Council of Chiefs. The Governor also sat in the Council as its President.1932 Legislative Council Election Fiji Elections Archive Voting for Europeans was restricted to men aged 21 or over who had been born to European parents (or a European father and was able to read, speak and write English), who were British subjects and had been continuously resident in Fiji for 12 months, and who either owned at least £20 of freehold or leasehold property or had an annual income of at least £120. A total of 1,533 Europeans (127 in Eastern, 259 in Northern, 750 in Suva, 254 in Vanua Levu & Taveuni and 143 in Western) were registered to vote."Personnel of New Council", Pacific Islands Monthly, November 1932, p16 For Indo-Fijians, eligibility was also restricted to men aged 21 or over. They had to be a British subject or from British India, have lived continuously in the Fiji for at least two years, be able to read or write in English, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu or Urdu, and for the previous six months, have either owned property with an annual value of five years, had a net annual cash income of at least £75, or held a Government or municipal licence worth at least £5 annually. A total of 1,585 Indo-Fijians (140 in Eastern, 669 in Northern & Western and 776 in Southern) were enrolled.Fiji Indians seek common roll but abandon non-cooperation Pacific Islands Monthly, November 1932, p15 In both ethnic categories, civil servants were barred from voting. Campaign Between the 1929 elections and the 1932 elections, the leader of the Indo-Fijian community Vishnu Deo had been convicted of an offence and was barred from running for election.1932 Fiji Legislative Council elections Fiji Elections The community decided to nominate only two candidates for the three seats, with no-one running in the Eastern Division. In the European seats, the only candidates were the sitting Council members, resulting in all six being returned unopposed. Results ConstituencyCandidateVotes%NotesEuropean membersEasternJohn Maynard HedstromUnopposedRe-electedNorthernHugh RaggUnopposedRe-electedSouthernHenry Milne ScottUnopposedRe-electedAlport BarkerUnopposedRe-electedVanua Levu & TaveuniWilliam Edmund Willoughby-TottenhamUnopposedRe-electedWesternJohn Percy BaylyUnopposedRe-electedIndo-Fijian membersEasternNo nominations receivedNorthern and WesternMuniswamy MudaliarUnopposedElectedSouthernK. B. Singh34178.8ElectedNarbahadur Singh9221.2Informal38–Source: Ali Nominated members RoleMemberGovernorMurchison Fletcher (until May 1936), Arthur Richards (from November 1936)Attorney-GeneralRansley Thacker (from March 1934)Colonial SecretaryCecil Barton (from December 1936)Commissioner of LandsFrederick Raymond Charlton (from October 1935)Comptroller of CustomsJohn Murchie WilsonDirector of AgricultureHenry Walter JackDirector of EducationJames Russell (from September 1934)Director of Medical ServicesAlexander Hugh Blaxell PearceDirector of Public WorksW. WiseInspector-General of ConstabularyJ.S. GamblePostmaster-GeneralP.F. Boyd (until July 1936), William Frederick Hayward (from October 1936)Secretary for Indian AffairsVictor William Tighe McGusty (from June 1936)Secretary for Native AffairsHugh Claud MoncktonTreasurerJohn CraigFijian membersLala SukunaDeve ToganivaluPopi SeniloliSource: Fiji Blue Book for the Year 1936 Aftermath After the Legislative Council was opened, the Indo-Fijian members put forward another proposal for a common roll. It had been planned that both elected members would resign after the proposal was rejected, but Northern and Western member Muniswamy Mudaliar refused to give up his seat. Southern Division member K. B. Singh did resign and was re-elected in a by-election the following year, winning by a larger margin. The by-election was boycotted by the Muslim community, who were demanding their own reserved seat.Fiji Indian Election Pacific Islands Monthly, July 1933, p42 1933 Southern Division by-electionCandidateVotes%K. B. Singh38293.9Narbahadur Singh256.1Informal votes31–Total438100Source: Ali References Fiji General Category:Elections in Fiji Fiji Fiji