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==Electoral system==
==Electoral system==
The 52-member [[House of Representatives of Fiji|House of Representatives]] consisted of 27 members elected from [[communal constituencies]] (12 Fijian, 12 Indo-Fijian and three [[general electors]]) and 25 members elected from [[national constituencies]] (10 Fijian, 10 Indo-Fijian and five general electors),<ref>[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-332193832/view?partId=nla.obj-332223344#page/n26/mode/1up Bigger House] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', April 1972, p25</ref> which had previously been referred to as "cross-voting" constituencies.
The 52-member [[House of Representatives of Fiji|House of Representatives]] consisted of 27 members elected from [[communal constituencies]] (12 Fijian, 12 Indo-Fijian and three [[general electors]]) and 25 members elected from [[national constituencies]] (10 Fijian, 10 Indo-Fijian and five general electors),<ref>[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-332193832/view?partId=nla.obj-332223344#page/n26/mode/1up Bigger House] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', April 1972, p25</ref> all elected by [[first-past-the-post voting]].


Voters only voted for candidates of their own ethnic group in the communal constituencies. In the national constituencies, voters voted for candidates from each of the three groups.
Voters could cast up to four votes; one in their own communal constituency, and three in their national constituency, in which they voted for a Fijian, Indo-Fijian and general elector candidate.<ref>Nohlen et al., p648</ref>


==Results==
==Results==
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!%
!%
!Seats
!Seats
!+/–
|-
|-
|align=left|[[Alliance Party (Fiji)|Alliance Party]]||388,550||57.5||33
|align=left|[[Alliance Party (Fiji)|Alliance Party]]||388,550||57.5||33||+10
|-
|-
|align=left|[[National Federation Party]]||241,866||33.9||19
|align=left|[[National Federation Party]]||241,866||33.9||19||+10
|-
|-
|align=left|[[Fijian Independent Party]]||1,535||0.2||0
|align=left|[[Fijian Independent Party]]||1,535||0.2||0||New
|-
|-
|align=left|Independents||43,521||6.4||0
|align=left|Independents||43,521||6.4||0||–2
|-
|-
|align=left|Invalid/blank votes||14,201||-||-
|align=left|Invalid/blank votes||14,201||–||–||–
|-
|-
|align=left|'''Total'''||'''689,673'''||'''100'''||'''52'''
|align=left|'''Total'''||'''689,673'''||'''100'''||'''52'''||'''+16'''
|-
|-
|align=left|Registered voters/turnout||205,617||85.5||–||–
⚫
|colspan=4 align=left|Source: Nohlen ''et al.''
|-
⚫
|colspan=5 align=left|Source: Nohlen ''et al.''
|}
|}


Revision as of 14:34, 16 February 2020

1972 Fijian general election
← 1966 15–29 April 1972 1977 →
All 52 seats to the House of Representatives
Registeredn/a
Turnoutn/a
  First party Second party
 
Leader Kamisese Mara Sidiq Koya
Party Alliance NFP
Last election 22 seats 9 seats
Seats won 33 19
Seat change Increase11 Increase10
Popular vote 388,550 241,866
Percentage 57.50% 33.90%
Prime Minister before election

Kamisese Mara
Alliance

Subsequent Prime Minister

Kamisese Mara
Alliance

Politics of Fiji
Constitution
Executive
Legislative
Judiciary
Elections
Local government
Foreign relations
Former and informal

General elections were held in Fiji between 15 and 29 April 1972,[1] the first since independence from the United Kingdom in 1970. They were characterised by the lack of rancour between racial groups, typical of the 1966 general election and the 1968 by-elections.

The result was a landslide for the Alliance Party of the Prime Minister, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, which won 33 of the 52 seats, and surprised many observers by capturing almost 25 percent of the Indo-Fijian vote. The Indo-Fijian-dominated National Federation Party, led by Sidiq Koya, won the remaining 19 seats.

The election re-affirmed the political allegiances of the past, with the Alliance Party winning all the Fijian Communal seats, with 82% of the votes, as well as all the General Communal seats. The National Federation Party (NFP), on the other hand, won all the Indian Communal sets with 73% of the votes. Voter turnout was 85.2% in the communal seats.

After the election, cooperation between the two major parties continued with R. D. Patel of the NFP elected the speaker of the Alliance-dominated House of Representatives.

Electoral system

The 52-member House of Representatives consisted of 27 members elected from communal constituencies (12 Fijian, 12 Indo-Fijian and three general electors) and 25 members elected from national constituencies (10 Fijian, 10 Indo-Fijian and five general electors),[2] all elected by first-past-the-post voting.

Voters could cast up to four votes; one in their own communal constituency, and three in their national constituency, in which they voted for a Fijian, Indo-Fijian and general elector candidate.[3]

Results

Party Votes % Seats +/–
Alliance Party 388,550 57.5 33 +10
National Federation Party 241,866 33.9 19 +10
Fijian Independent Party 1,535 0.2 0 New
Independents 43,521 6.4 0 –2
Invalid/blank votes 14,201 – – –
Total 689,673 100 52 +16
Registered voters/turnout 205,617 85.5 – –
Source: Nohlen et al.

References

  1. ^ Nohlen, D, Grotz, F & Hartmann, C (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p653 ISBN 0-19-924959-8
  2. ^ Bigger House Pacific Islands Monthly, April 1972, p25
  3. ^ Nohlen et al., p648
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