1959 Fijian general election

none General elections were held in Fiji in September 1959, the last in which women and ethnic Fijians were still barred from voting. Voting took place in the Eastern constituencies between 5 and 12 September, and in the Northern and Western and Southern constituencies on 12 September.Blood and Old Fiji LegCo Pacific Islands Monthly, August 1959, p143 Electoral system The Legislative Council consisted of 32 members, including 16 'official' members who were civil servants, fifteen 'unofficial' members (five Europeans, five Fijians and five Indo-Fijians), and the Governor sitting as President of the Council. For Europeans and Indo-Fijians, three of the five representatives were elected from single-member constituencies, with the other two appointed by the Governor. All five Fijian members were appointed from a list of ten candidates submitted by the Great Council of Chiefs.1940 Legislative Council Election Fiji Elections Archive Voting for Europeans remained 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. 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. Results ConstituencyCandidateVotes%NotesEuropean membersEasternHarold Brockett Gibson24058.5Re-electedLeslie Martin17041.5Informal votes27–Northern and WesternRonald Kermode29256.7Re-electedJames Sinclair White19738.3Nathaniel Chalmers265.0Informal votes20–SouthernJohn Falvey46274.0Re-electedSergius Tetzner16226.0Informal votes31–Total1,627100Registered voters/turnout1,98582.0Indo-Fijian membersEasternVijay R. Singh86450.3ElectedJamnadas Kanji49428.8Muhammed Khan36021.0Informal votes33–Northern and WesternB. D. Lakshman2,63738.4ElectedJames Madhavan2,15831.4UnseatedMadhavan had been elected in the Eastern constituency in the 1956 elections but contested the Northern and Western seat in 1959.Ayodhya Prasad2,07530.2UnseatedInformal votes88–SouthernAndrew Deoki1,87758.3ElectedK. B. Singh95029.5Chambadan Manakadan Gopalan2216.9Devendra Pathik892.8Odin Ramrakha822.5Informal votes76–Total12,004100Registered voters/turnout14,06985.3Source: Fiji Elections, Pacific Islands Monthly Nominated members EuropeansCharles CayzerJohn MooreFijiansEdward CakobauGeorge CakobauPenaia GanilauSemesa SikivouRavuama VunivaluIndo-FijiansSathi NarainA. H. Sahu KhanSource: Fiji Elections Aftermath A by-election was held in the Indian Eastern constituency in 1961, which was won by James Madhavan.1959 Fiji Legislative Council elections Fiji Elections References Fiji Category:1959 in Fiji Category:Elections in Fiji Category:1959 elections in the British Empire Category:September 1959 in Oceania