General elections were held in Fiji between 26 September and 8 October 1966,[1] the last before independence in 1970 and the first held under universal suffrage.[2] The result was a victory for the Alliance Party, which won 23 of the 34 elected seats. Its leader Kamisese Mara became the country's first Chief Minister the following year.
Background
A constitutional conference was held in London in 1965, which resulted in the Legislative Council being reorganised to consist of 36 seats; 14 for Fijians and other Pacific Islanders (two of which were nominated by the Great Council of Chiefs), 12 for Indo-Fijians and 10 for all other ethnic groups.[2] The total number of registered voters was 156,683; 75,768 Indo-Fijians, 74,575 Fijians and 6,340 General electors.[1]
Members of the Legislative Council were elected from two types of constituencies; communal and cross-voting, with voters being able to cast four votes each. Each voter cast a single vote in one of the 25 communal constituencies, in which they could only vote for a candidate of their own ethnicity. In the three three-seat cross-voting constituencies, voters voted for a candidate from each of the three ethnic groups.[2]
Campaign
For the first time, the elections were a largely partisan event, dominated by the Fijian Alliance Party and the Indo-Fijian Federation Party.[2] A total of 79 candidates contested the elections, three of which were women.[3]
Following the elections, the two independents joined the Alliance Party.[2] A new government was formed with Kamisese Mara as Leader of Government Business.[4] The Executive Council consisted of six elected members and four civil servants.[5]
At the first meeting of the Legislative Council on 11 November, Ronald Kermode was elected Speaker unopposed, with James Madhavan elected Deputy Speaker.[6]
Full ministerial government was introduced on 1 September 1967. On the same day, the Federation Party MLCs walked out of the Legislative Council.[7] After they missed three meetings, the nine Indo-Fijian communal seats were declared vacant and a series of by-elections held in 1968.
