Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua
Encyclopedia
The Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (occasionally known as the United Fiji Party but usually known by the acronym SDL) is a political party in Fiji
. It was founded in 2001 by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase
as a power base; it absorbed most of the Christian Democratic Alliance
and other conservative groupings, and its endorsement by the Great Council of Chiefs (Bose Levu Vakaturaga)
caused it to be widely seen as the successor to the Alliance
, the former ruling party that had dominated Fijian politics from the 1960s to the 1980s. It draws its support mainly from indigenous Fijiians
.
The party is led in Parliament by Prime Minister Qarase. The party organization is headed up by Ratu Kalokalo Loki as President and by Jale Baba
as General Secretary (later termed National Director) until early 2006, when he was transferred at the beginning of 2006 to managing the campaign for the 2006 General Election. Peceli Kinivuwai is the current National Director.
The SDL contested 59 of the 71 parliamentary
seats in the 2001 elections
; this figure included only 7 of the 19 seats reserved for Indo-Fijians. It received 26 percent of the vote, well short of the 32 percent polled by the Fiji Labour Party
, but helped by preference deals with other ethnic Fijian-dominated parties as well as the Indo-Fijian-led National Federation Party
, it became the largest party in Parliament, with 32 out of 71 seats. It subsequently formed a coalition with the Conservative Alliance
, which remains in office as of September 2005.
with powers, subject to presidential approval, to compensate victims and pardon perpetrators of the coup d'état
that deposed the elected government in 2000. It agreed, however, to listen to objections. At the same conference, Qarase publicly welcomed what he claimed was an increase in the number of Indo-Fijians joining the SDL, evidence, he said, that the SDL was the multiracial party it had always claimed to be.
The SDL contested many of the mayor
al and council
positions throughout Fiji in the municipal elections scheduled for 22 October 2005. In many towns, the SDL was aligned with the National Federation Party (NFP), but in Suva
, the two parties feuded over what the NFP claimed was a breach of a memorandum of understanding
between the two parties after the last municipal elections
, held in 2002. According to the NFP, the agreement specified that each party would hold the Mayoralty of Suva for one year, with the two parties jointly choosing the Lord Mayor in the third year. The NFP accuses the SDL of having broken the agreement by forging a coalition in 2004 with the Fiji Labour Party to retain the Mayoralty. SDL Secretary Jale Baba denied on 19 October 2005 that his party had breached the agreement, saying that Umaria was putting his own spin on it; there was no agreement on sharing the Mayoralty in the third year, Baba said. The election was a bittersweet experience for the SDL; they gained a majority in their own right in Suva, but lost control of Nasinu
, Fiji's largest municipality.
The SDL appointed former Fiji Development Bank Chairman Navitalai Naisoro to head a panel interviewing would-be parliamentary candidates for the SDL. The interviews began in the last week of August 2005. The party's general secretary, Jale Baba, had earlier said that the SDL was dissatisfied with the performance of about a third of its parliamentarians, and that they would not be nominated for another term. Names approved by the panel will be forwarded to the selection committee of the appropriate constituency, before a decision is finalized. On 27 February 2006, Baba, no longer general secretary but now coordinator of the election campaign, said that the selection process had begun and would take two to three weeks.
SDL National Director Jale Baba announced on 11 September 2005 that the party would contest all 71 parliamentary seats in the 2006 election. Indo-Fijian candidates would be nominated for open constituencies
as well as communal constituencies
reserved for Indo-Fijians. Baba said that byelections showed that Indo-Fijian support for the SDL had increased since 2001, when it hardly registered, and that the party was confident of winning most of the seats in 2006. On 2 October, Baba said that members of all ethnic communities, including Indo-Fijians, had applied for nomination, which he described as "a major change" for a party hitherto dominated by indigenous Fijians.
Baba announced On 4 January 2006 that 43 Indo-Fijians had been shortlisted. Their names had been forwarded to the party's constituency councils which would finalize nominations in due course. The SDL was not an exclusively indigenous party, he emphasized. "We look after the interests of all. We are strongly pro-Fijian but not exclusive. We do not restrict membership to other communities. Programs are there for everyone."
Prime Minister Qarase reiterated on 23 January 2006 that the party intended to contest all 71 seats.
FLP parliamentarian Poseci Bune
challenged the FLP on 3 February 2006 to substantiate its assertion that three FLP caucus members had applied to contest the upcoming election on the SDL ticket. The claim was untrue and just a campaign gimmick, Bune alleged. Baba did not reply to the challenge, but announced on 20 February that two more FLP defectors had joined the three seeking SDL endorsement. Citing confidentiality rules, Baba refused to name them, but said they were all Indo-Fijians, bringing to 48 the number of ethnic Indians who would stand in the primary election
s to choose SDL candidates in the third week of February. All told, 321 sought nomination for the 71 constituencies.
The SDL launched an Indian wing on 23 March 2006. Seventy supporters attended the public launch at Namaka, Nadi
, with Ratu
Suliano Matanitobua
, a Cabinet Minister
and Tui Namosi
(Paramount Chief of Namosi
) as the chief speaker. Matanitobua praised the Indo-Fijian contribution to Fiji, and asked them to support the SDL to move Fiji forward.
revealed that he was one who would not be seeking reelection.
The NFP said in August 2005 that it would withhold its preferences from the SDL unless it withdrew its controversial Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill, but Qarase expressed the hope that "good sense" would prevail. Aiming to establish a commission with the power to compensate victims and pardon perpetrators of the 2000 coup, the legislation has been branded by opponents as a thinly-veiled legal mechanism for freeing supporters of the present government, who have been convicted and imprisoned on coup-related charges. In September, however, the NFP appeared to adopt a somewhat more flexible position.
In the end, the NFP decided to give its preferences to the SDL in some constituencies, but not all. Prime Minister Qarase said that the NFP decision to give its preferences to the opposition Fiji Labour Party (FLP) in a number of marginal electorates was a breach of promise, and withdrew his own earlier offer to include the NFP in his post-election Cabinet.
about sharing preferences.
allocated to indigenous Fijians were won by the SDL, most of them overwhelmingly; the party also won 13 of the 25 Open Constituencies
elected by universal suffrage
. The SDL failed to make any significant inroads into the Indo-Fijian community, polling barely 2 percent of the Indo-Fijian vote, and also lost the one minority voters'
constituency it had held.
The SDL-led government was ousted in the military coup of December 2006
- the first coup in Fiji to overthrow an SDL government rather than an FLP
one. The party intends to take part in the next election
.
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
. It was founded in 2001 by 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...
as a power base; it absorbed most of the Christian Democratic Alliance
Christian Democratic Alliance (Fiji)
The Christian Democratic Alliance, better known locally by its Fijian name, Veitokani ni Lewenivanua Vakarisito , was a Fijian political party that operated in the late 1990s and early 2000s....
and other conservative groupings, and its endorsement by the Great Council of Chiefs (Bose Levu Vakaturaga)
Great Council of Chiefs (Fiji)
The Great Council of Chiefs is a now dormant 1997 constitutional body in the Republic of the Fiji Islands. In April 2007 the council was suspended, due to an unworkable relationship with Frank Bainimarama, leader of an "interim government" which came to power through a military coup in December 2006...
caused it to be widely seen as the successor to the Alliance
Fijian Alliance
The Alliance Party, was the ruling political party in Fiji from 1966 to 1987. Founded in the early 1960s, its leader was Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, the founding father of the modern Fijian nation...
, the former ruling party that had dominated Fijian politics from the 1960s to the 1980s. It draws its support mainly from indigenous Fijiians
Fijian people
Fijian people are the major indigenous people of the Fiji Islands, and live in an area informally called Melanesia. The Fijian people are believed to have arrived in Fiji from western Melanesia approximately 3,500 years ago, though the exact origins of the Fijian people are unknown...
.
The party is led in Parliament by Prime Minister Qarase. The party organization is headed up by Ratu Kalokalo Loki as President and by Jale Baba
Jale Baba
Jale Baba is a Fijian businessman and political organizer. A forestry graduate of the Australian National University, he worked for Fiji Pine Limited for more than 20 years, before leaving in 1999 to start his own company- Baba Forests. He also serves as the campaign director of the ruling...
as General Secretary (later termed National Director) until early 2006, when he was transferred at the beginning of 2006 to managing the campaign for the 2006 General Election. Peceli Kinivuwai is the current National Director.
History
From the time of its inception, the SDL has stood for the economic and social advancement of all Fiji citizens. There was a strong focus however on reducing the economic gap between the different ethnic communities, which continued to be a controversial issue for many commentators who accused the SDL of blatant racism. It also calls for a consolidation of the rule of law and claims to support an independent judiciary.The SDL contested 59 of the 71 parliamentary
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...
seats in the 2001 elections
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...
; this figure included only 7 of the 19 seats reserved for Indo-Fijians. It received 26 percent of the vote, well short of the 32 percent polled by 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...
, but helped by preference deals with other ethnic Fijian-dominated parties as well as the Indo-Fijian-led National Federation Party
National Federation Party (Fiji)
The National Federation Party is a Fijian political party founded by A.D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Federation Party and the National Democratic Party...
, it became the largest party in Parliament, with 32 out of 71 seats. It subsequently formed a coalition with the Conservative Alliance
Conservative Alliance (Fiji)
The Conservative Alliance was a far-right political party in Fiji, and a member of the ruling coalition government. It was commonly known as the CAMV, a combination of the initials of its English and Fijian names...
, which remains in office as of September 2005.
Controversial legislation
At its annual conference on 27 May 2005, the SDL strongly endorsed Prime Minister Qarase's controversial proposals to establish a Reconciliation and Unity CommissionReconciliation and Unity Commission (Fiji)
The Reconciliation and Unity Commission is a proposed government body to be set up if the Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill, which was introduced into the Fijian Parliament on 4 May 2005 is passed...
with powers, subject to presidential approval, to compensate victims and pardon perpetrators of the coup d'état
Fiji coup of 2000
The Fiji coup of 2000 was a complicated affair involving a civilian putsch by hardline Fijian nationalists against the elected government of a non-native Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, on 19 May 2000, the attempt by President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara to assert executive authority on 27 May, and...
that deposed the elected government in 2000. It agreed, however, to listen to objections. At the same conference, Qarase publicly welcomed what he claimed was an increase in the number of Indo-Fijians joining the SDL, evidence, he said, that the SDL was the multiracial party it had always claimed to be.
2005 Municipal election
- See main article: Fiji municipal election, 2005Fiji municipal election, 2005Municipal elections were held for 11 of Fiji's twelve city and town councils on 22 October 2005. In the capital city, however, elections for the Suva City Council were postponed till 12 November, owing to the death of two candidates; the death of a candidate in Lautoka also resulted in the...
The SDL contested many of the mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
al and council
Local government of Fiji
Fiji is divided administratively into four divisions, which are further subdivided into fourteen provinces; the self-governing island of Rotuma and its dependencies lie outside any of the four divisions. Each division is headed by a Commissioner, appointed by the Fijian government...
positions throughout Fiji in the municipal elections scheduled for 22 October 2005. In many towns, the SDL was aligned with the National Federation Party (NFP), but in Suva
Suva
Suva features a tropical rainforest climate under the Koppen climate classification. The city sees a copious amount of precipitation during the course of the year. Suva averages 3,000 mm of precipitation annually with its driest month, July averaging 125 mm of rain per year. In fact,...
, the two parties feuded over what the NFP claimed was a breach of a memorandum of understanding
Memorandum of understanding
A memorandum of understanding is a document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action. It is often used in cases where parties either do not imply a legal commitment or in...
between the two parties after the last municipal elections
Fiji municipal election, 2002
Fiji's municipal elections of October 2002 produced results that allowed three major political parties, the United Fiji Party , the Fiji Labour Party , and the National Federation Party to claim a victory of sorts...
, held in 2002. According to the NFP, the agreement specified that each party would hold the Mayoralty of Suva for one year, with the two parties jointly choosing the Lord Mayor in the third year. The NFP accuses the SDL of having broken the agreement by forging a coalition in 2004 with the Fiji Labour Party to retain the Mayoralty. SDL Secretary Jale Baba denied on 19 October 2005 that his party had breached the agreement, saying that Umaria was putting his own spin on it; there was no agreement on sharing the Mayoralty in the third year, Baba said. The election was a bittersweet experience for the SDL; they gained a majority in their own right in Suva, but lost control of Nasinu
Nasinu
Nasinu is an urban area on the island Viti Levu in Fiji. It is officially designated a "Town" despite its population . Nasinu is the most populous municipality in Fiji, having overtaken that of Suva , and is one of Fiji's fastest-growing towns...
, Fiji's largest municipality.
2006 parliamentary election
- See main article: Fiji election of 2006Fiji election of 2006The 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...
The SDL appointed former Fiji Development Bank Chairman Navitalai Naisoro to head a panel interviewing would-be parliamentary candidates for the SDL. The interviews began in the last week of August 2005. The party's general secretary, Jale Baba, had earlier said that the SDL was dissatisfied with the performance of about a third of its parliamentarians, and that they would not be nominated for another term. Names approved by the panel will be forwarded to the selection committee of the appropriate constituency, before a decision is finalized. On 27 February 2006, Baba, no longer general secretary but now coordinator of the election campaign, said that the selection process had begun and would take two to three weeks.
Indian candidates
On 12 August 2005, Baba claimed that three members of the opposition Fiji Labour Party's parliamentary caucus had applied for endorsement as SDL candidates for the parliamentary election scheduled to be held in mid-2006. He refused to name them, saying that to do so could prematurely end their political careers. The three were interviewed at 5am on an unrevealed date in early September to protect their identities, SDL President Ratu Kalokalo Loki said. The Fiji Live news service reported on 7 September that it had information that not three, but five, FLP members were interviewed.SDL National Director Jale Baba announced on 11 September 2005 that the party would contest all 71 parliamentary seats in the 2006 election. Indo-Fijian candidates would be nominated for open constituencies
Open constituencies (Fiji)
Open constituencies represent one of several electoral models employed in the past and present in the Fijian electoral system. They derive their name from the fact that they are "open": unlike the communal constituencies, the 25 members of the House of Representatives who represent open...
as well as communal constituencies
Communal constituencies (Fiji)
Communal constituencies have been the most durable feature of the Fijian electoral system. In communal constituencies, electors enrolled as ethnic Fijians, Indo-Fijians, Rotuman Islanders, or General Electors vote for a candidate of their own respective ethnic groups, in constituencies that have...
reserved for Indo-Fijians. Baba said that byelections showed that Indo-Fijian support for the SDL had increased since 2001, when it hardly registered, and that the party was confident of winning most of the seats in 2006. On 2 October, Baba said that members of all ethnic communities, including Indo-Fijians, had applied for nomination, which he described as "a major change" for a party hitherto dominated by indigenous Fijians.
Baba announced On 4 January 2006 that 43 Indo-Fijians had been shortlisted. Their names had been forwarded to the party's constituency councils which would finalize nominations in due course. The SDL was not an exclusively indigenous party, he emphasized. "We look after the interests of all. We are strongly pro-Fijian but not exclusive. We do not restrict membership to other communities. Programs are there for everyone."
Prime Minister Qarase reiterated on 23 January 2006 that the party intended to contest all 71 seats.
FLP parliamentarian Poseci Bune
Poseci Bune
Poseci Waqalevu Bune is a Fijian politician, who has served as Deputy Leader of the Fiji Labour Party . From June to December 2006, he served as Minister for the Environment, one of nine FLP ministers, in the multiparty Cabinet of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase...
challenged the FLP on 3 February 2006 to substantiate its assertion that three FLP caucus members had applied to contest the upcoming election on the SDL ticket. The claim was untrue and just a campaign gimmick, Bune alleged. Baba did not reply to the challenge, but announced on 20 February that two more FLP defectors had joined the three seeking SDL endorsement. Citing confidentiality rules, Baba refused to name them, but said they were all Indo-Fijians, bringing to 48 the number of ethnic Indians who would stand in the primary election
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
s to choose SDL candidates in the third week of February. All told, 321 sought nomination for the 71 constituencies.
The SDL launched an Indian wing on 23 March 2006. Seventy supporters attended the public launch at Namaka, Nadi
Nadi
Nadi is the third-largest conurbation in Fiji. It is located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu, and had a population of 42,284 at the most recent census, in 2007. Nadi is multiracial with many of its inhabitants Indian or Fijian, along with a large transient population of foreign...
, with Ratu
Ratu
Ratu is a title used by Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, Adi is used by females of chiefly rank.-Etymology:Ra is a prefix in many titles and Tu is simply "chief"...
Suliano Matanitobua
Suliano Matanitobua
Ro Suliano Matanitobua is a Fijian chief and politician, who currently serves as Minister of State for Fijian Affairs. He was first appointed to the interim Cabinet formed by Laisenia Qarase in the wake of the Fiji coup of 2000....
, a Cabinet Minister
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...
and Tui Namosi
Tui Namosi
The "Tui Namosi" is a chiefly Title of the Fiji Islands and is the title held by the Paramount Chief of the Province of Namosi on the Main Island of Viti Levu.Robatiratu was the vunivalu at the yavutu of Nabukebuke at Wailase in the Wainimala highlands...
(Paramount Chief of Namosi
Namosi
Namosi is one of Fiji's fourteen Provinces, and one of eight based in Viti Levu, the largest island. Located to the west of Suva, the Province covers 570 square kilometers...
) as the chief speaker. Matanitobua praised the Indo-Fijian contribution to Fiji, and asked them to support the SDL to move Fiji forward.
Retiring parliamentarians
Party Secretary Jale Baba said on 20 September that three SDL members of the present Cabinet had not sought the SDL nomination for the 2006 election. He declined to identify the Ministers involved, but said they were stepping down for a variety of reasons. On 2 February 2006, Foreign Minister Kaliopate TavolaKaliopate Tavola
Kaliopate Tavola is a Fijian economist, diplomat, and politician, who was his country's Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2000 to 2006...
revealed that he was one who would not be seeking reelection.
Negotiations with NFP
Prime Minister Qarase also announced on 11 September that the SDL would attempt to negotiate preference deals with the National Federation Party (NFP) and the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) ahead of the 2006 election. He considered that parties dominated by the two respective principal races in the country needed each other's "preferences" under Fiji's so-called alternative vote system, which allows votes cast for low-polling candidates to be transferred to higher-polling candidates, as specified by the eliminated candidate.The NFP said in August 2005 that it would withhold its preferences from the SDL unless it withdrew its controversial Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill, but Qarase expressed the hope that "good sense" would prevail. Aiming to establish a commission with the power to compensate victims and pardon perpetrators of the 2000 coup, the legislation has been branded by opponents as a thinly-veiled legal mechanism for freeing supporters of the present government, who have been convicted and imprisoned on coup-related charges. In September, however, the NFP appeared to adopt a somewhat more flexible position.
In the end, the NFP decided to give its preferences to the SDL in some constituencies, but not all. Prime Minister Qarase said that the NFP decision to give its preferences to the opposition Fiji Labour Party (FLP) in a number of marginal electorates was a breach of promise, and withdrew his own earlier offer to include the NFP in his post-election Cabinet.
Grand Coalition
On 30 July 2005, the SDL joined the Grand Coalition Initiative Group, an electoral alliance of predominantly indigenous Fijian parties that agreed to share preferences in the 2006 election. On 25 November, Prime Minister Qarase confirmed that the SDL would definitely share cooperate with members of the coalition, including the Fijian Political Party (SVT), and that he was having talks with SVT President Sitiveni RabukaSitiveni Rabuka
Major-General Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka, OBE, MSD, OStJ, is best known as the instigator of two military coups that shook Fiji in 1987. He was later democratically elected the third Prime Minister, serving from 1992 to 1999...
about sharing preferences.
Merger with CAMV
Prime Minister Qarase announced on 16 February 2006 that the Conservative Alliance (CAMV), the coalition partner of Qarase's SDL, would be formalizing a decision the next day to deregister itself in order to merge with the SDL.Election result
In the election, held on 6–13 May, the SDL won 44 percent of the popular vote (including 81 percent of the ethnic Fijian vote), and 36 out of 71 seats. All 23 Communal ConstituenciesCommunal constituencies (Fiji)
Communal constituencies have been the most durable feature of the Fijian electoral system. In communal constituencies, electors enrolled as ethnic Fijians, Indo-Fijians, Rotuman Islanders, or General Electors vote for a candidate of their own respective ethnic groups, in constituencies that have...
allocated to indigenous Fijians were won by the SDL, most of them overwhelmingly; the party also won 13 of the 25 Open Constituencies
Open constituencies (Fiji)
Open constituencies represent one of several electoral models employed in the past and present in the Fijian electoral system. They derive their name from the fact that they are "open": unlike the communal constituencies, the 25 members of the House of Representatives who represent open...
elected by universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
. The SDL failed to make any significant inroads into the Indo-Fijian community, polling barely 2 percent of the Indo-Fijian vote, and also lost the one minority voters'
General Electors (Fiji)
"General Electors" is the term used in Fiji to identify citizens of voting age who belong, in most cases, to ethnic minorities. The Constitution defines General Electors as all Fiji citizens who are not registered as being of Fijian, Indian, or Rotuman descent. Also included are citizens who do...
constituency it had held.
The SDL-led government was ousted in the military coup of December 2006
2006 Fijian coup d'état
The Fijian coup d'état of December 2006 occurred as a continuation of the pressure which had been building since the military unrest of the 2000 Fijian coup d'état and 2005-2006 Fijian political crisis....
- the first coup in Fiji to overthrow an SDL government rather than an FLP
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...
one. The party intends to take part in the next election
Fijian general election, 2009
General elections were, until recently, scheduled to be held in Fiji in March 2009. They are now expected to be held by September 2014.-Context: Scheduling a return to democracy:...
.