Ragho Nand
Encyclopedia
Ragho Nand is a Fiji Indian politician who was also a Minister in the multi-party cabinet following the 2006 election.

In the House of Representatives
House of Representatives (Fiji)
The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of Fiji's Parliament. It is the more powerful of the two chambers; it alone has the power to initiate legislation...

 he represented the Tailevu Rewa
Tailevu Rewa (Indian Communal Constituency, Fiji)
Tailevu Rewa Communal is an electoral division of Fiji, one of 19 communal constituencies reserved for Indo-Fijians....

 Indian Communal Constituency, one of 19 reserved for Indo-Fijians, which he held for the Fiji Labour Party
Fiji Labour Party
The Fiji Labour Party is a political party in Fiji, which holds observer status with the Socialist International. Most of its support at present comes from the Indo-Fijian community, although it is officially multiracial and its first leader was an indigenous Fijian, Dr. Timoci Bavadra. It is...

 (FLP) in the general elections
Elections in Fiji
Fiji has held nine general elections for the House of Representatives since becoming independent of the United Kingdom in 1970; there had been numerous elections under colonial rule, but only one with universal suffrage . In this period, Fiji has had three constitutions, and the voting system has...

 of 1999
Fiji election of 1999
General elections were held in Fiji between 8 and 15 May 1999. They were the first election held under the revised Constitution of 1997, which instituted a new electoral system and resulted in Mahendra Chaudhry taking office as Fiji's first Indo-Fijian Prime Minister.-Electoral system:Previously,...

, 2001
Fiji election of 2001
The Constitution of Fiji was restored by a High Court decision on 15 November 2000, following the failure of the political upheaval in which the government had been deposed and the constitution suspended in May that year. On 1 March 2001, the Appeal Court upheld the decision. An election to...

, and 2006
Fiji election of 2006
The Constitution of Fiji requires general elections for the House of Representatives to be held at least once every five years. The latest election was held on 6-13 May 2006. Acting President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi issued a proclamation on 2 March, effective from 27 March, dissolving Parliament...

.

On 19 May 2000, He was among the 43 members of the People's Coalition Government
People's Coalition (Fiji)
The People's Coalition was an alliance of three political parties in Fiji, formed in March 1999 to contest the parliamentary election to be held in May that year...

, led by Mahendra Chaudhry
Mahendra Chaudhry
Mahendra Pal Chaudhry is a Fijian politician and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party...

, taken hostage by George Speight
George Speight
George Speight , occasionally known as Ilikimi Naitini, was the principal instigator of the Fiji coup of 2000, in which he kidnapped thirty-six government officials and held them from May 19, 2000 to July 13, 2000...

 and his band of rebel Republic of Fiji Military Forces
Military of Fiji
The Republic of Fiji Military Forces are the military of the Pacific island nation of Fiji. With a total manpower of 3,500 active soldiers and 6,000 reservists, it is one of the smallest militaries in the world. However, most of its surrounding island nations have no militaries at all...

 (RFMF) soldiers from the Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit
Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit (Fiji)
The Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit or CRWU was the common name for the First Meridian Squadron, the unit's formal name, which had been disbanded in 2000...

. He was released on 21 May 2000, after he signed a paper resigning his seat in Parliament.

In 2003, Nand was offered the portfolio of Minister for Drainage and Flood Protection & Management, together with 13 other FLP parliamentarians who were offered cabinet positions by the Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase
Laisenia Qarase
Laisenia Qarase is a Fijian political figure. He served as the sixth Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. After the military quashed the coup that led to the removal of Mahendra Chaudhry, Qarase joined the Interim Military Government as a financial adviser on 9 June 2000, until his appointment...

 but the FLP refused to accept this offer.

Following his win in 2006, he was named Minister for Employment Opportunities and Productivity in the multi-party Cabinet
Cabinet (Fiji)
Fiji has the Westminster system - executive authority is vested nominally in a President, but exercised in practice by a Cabinet of Ministers, presided over by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is formally appointed, but not chosen, by the President: the President must appoint as Prime...

that was formed. The FLP members of the Cabinet were advised by its leader, Mahendra Chaudhry, to vote against the 2006 budget and Nand with three other colleagues voted against the budget. The four ALP Cabinet were asked by the Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase to resign, which they refused to do, but the 2006 coup took place before any further action could be taken.
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