Suva City Council
Encyclopedia
The Suva City Council is the municipal
law-making body of the city of Suva
, Fiji
's capital. It consists of 20 Councillors, elected for three-year terms from four multi-member constituencies called wards. Councillors, who are elected by residents, landowners, and representatives of corporations owning or occupying ratable property in Suva, elect a Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor from among their own members; they serve one-year terms and are eligible for reelection. The current Lord Mayor is Ratu Peni Volavola
of the United Fiji Party (SDL); his Deputy is Josefa Gavidi, also of the SDL.
has had a somewhat turbulent electoral history. In the 1985 municipal election, the newly-founded Labour Party won 8 of the 20 seats on the City Council to become the largest single party, and succeeded in electing Bob Kumar as Lord Mayor in a harbinger of the national election
two years later, when an FLP-led coalition ousted the long-time Alliance Party
government. The FLP later fell on hard times in the capital, however, and won no seats on the City Council in the municipal election of 1999. At the next municipal elections
held in 2002, the Labour Party made significant gains, winning the five seats in the Samabula Ward. The coalition
of then-Lord Mayor Chandu Umaria remained intact, however, with Umaria's Ratepayers Alliance (dominated by the National Federation Party
) winning 8 seats and its ally, the SDL (the ruling party at the national level), 7. Under a memorandum of understanding
, the two parties agreed to hold the Mayoralty for one year each. In 2004, the coalition collapsed, with the 5 FLP councilors teaming up with the SDL to reelect Ratu Peni Volavola
, who had replaced Umaria as Lord Mayor the previous year.
Disagreements over the 2002 memorandum of understanding between the SDL and the NFP thwarted attempts to forge an electoral coalition between them for the 2005 municipal elections
. The NFP charged that in making a common cause with the FLP in 2004, the SDL breached the agreement, which it said specified that in the third year, the Lord Mayor should be chosen jointly by the two parties. The SDL denied this, General Secretary Jale Baba
saying that there was no such stipulation in the agreement.
Fiji Electoral Commission Chairman Graeme Leung
announced on 19 October 2005 that the Suva City Council election scheduled for 22 October would be postponed till 12 November, owing to the death of two candidates for the Tamavua and Samabula wards, respectively. The original plan was to postpone the poll in those two wards only, but the Commission decided that it would be a "tidier" process to conduct the whole election simultaneously.
The result of the poll was a landslide win for the SDL, which took 12 of the 20 seats. The party swept the Tamavua and Muanikau wards, and won 2 of the 5 seats in the Samabula ward, previously an FLP bastion. The FLP retained 3 of its 5 Samabula seats, while the NFP retained its hold on the Central Ward, but lost ground elsewhere. The new SDL-dominated council reelected Volavola to the Mayoralty on 17 November, and chose Josefa Gavidi as his deputy.
held on 12 November 2005.
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...
law-making body of the city of 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,...
, Fiji
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...
's capital. It consists of 20 Councillors, elected for three-year terms from four multi-member constituencies called wards. Councillors, who are elected by residents, landowners, and representatives of corporations owning or occupying ratable property in Suva, elect a Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor from among their own members; they serve one-year terms and are eligible for reelection. The current Lord Mayor is Ratu Peni Volavola
Peni Volavola
Captain Ratu Peni Volavola is the Lord Mayor of the Fijian capital of Suva.Volavola, a Councillor representing the Tamavua ward, was elected Lord Mayor in 2003, under a memorandum of understanding between of his United Fiji Party and the National Federation Party of his predecessor, Chandu...
of the United Fiji Party (SDL); his Deputy is Josefa Gavidi, also of the SDL.
Electoral history
SuvaSuva
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,...
has had a somewhat turbulent electoral history. In the 1985 municipal election, the newly-founded Labour Party won 8 of the 20 seats on the City Council to become the largest single party, and succeeded in electing Bob Kumar as Lord Mayor in a harbinger of the national election
Fiji election of 1987
General elections were held in Fiji between 4 and 11 April 1987. It was historic in that it marked the first electoral transition of power in Fijian history...
two years later, when an FLP-led coalition ousted the long-time Alliance Party
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...
government. The FLP later fell on hard times in the capital, however, and won no seats on the City Council in the municipal election of 1999. At the next 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, the Labour Party made significant gains, winning the five seats in the Samabula Ward. The coalition
Coalition
A coalition is a pact or treaty among individuals or groups, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest, joining forces together for a common cause. This alliance may be temporary or a matter of convenience. A coalition thus differs from a more formal covenant...
of then-Lord Mayor Chandu Umaria remained intact, however, with Umaria's Ratepayers Alliance (dominated by the 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...
) winning 8 seats and its ally, the SDL (the ruling party at the national level), 7. Under 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...
, the two parties agreed to hold the Mayoralty for one year each. In 2004, the coalition collapsed, with the 5 FLP councilors teaming up with the SDL to reelect Ratu Peni Volavola
Peni Volavola
Captain Ratu Peni Volavola is the Lord Mayor of the Fijian capital of Suva.Volavola, a Councillor representing the Tamavua ward, was elected Lord Mayor in 2003, under a memorandum of understanding between of his United Fiji Party and the National Federation Party of his predecessor, Chandu...
, who had replaced Umaria as Lord Mayor the previous year.
Disagreements over the 2002 memorandum of understanding between the SDL and the NFP thwarted attempts to forge an electoral coalition between them for the 2005 municipal elections
Fiji municipal election, 2005
Municipal 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 NFP charged that in making a common cause with the FLP in 2004, the SDL breached the agreement, which it said specified that in the third year, the Lord Mayor should be chosen jointly by the two parties. The SDL denied this, General Secretary 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...
saying that there was no such stipulation in the agreement.
Fiji Electoral Commission Chairman Graeme Leung
Graeme Leung
Graham Everett Leung is a Fijian lawyer and former President of the Fiji Law Society. He was also Chairman of the Electoral Commission, and was named as Judge Advocate of a Court Martial panel to retry 20 soldiers convicted mutiny in relation to the Fiji coup of 2000, but a number of complications...
announced on 19 October 2005 that the Suva City Council election scheduled for 22 October would be postponed till 12 November, owing to the death of two candidates for the Tamavua and Samabula wards, respectively. The original plan was to postpone the poll in those two wards only, but the Commission decided that it would be a "tidier" process to conduct the whole election simultaneously.
The result of the poll was a landslide win for the SDL, which took 12 of the 20 seats. The party swept the Tamavua and Muanikau wards, and won 2 of the 5 seats in the Samabula ward, previously an FLP bastion. The FLP retained 3 of its 5 Samabula seats, while the NFP retained its hold on the Central Ward, but lost ground elsewhere. The new SDL-dominated council reelected Volavola to the Mayoralty on 17 November, and chose Josefa Gavidi as his deputy.
Council membership
The following Councillors were elected in the municipal electionsFiji municipal election, 2005
Municipal 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...
held on 12 November 2005.
| Ward | Councillors | Political party |
| Central Ward | Chandu K. Umaria | National Federation Party |
| Deven Magan | National Federation Party | |
| Shashi Dhanji | National Federation Party | |
| Dhani Ram | National Federation Party | |
| Priscilla Singh | National Federation Party | |
| Muanikau | Akuila Bale | United Fiji Party |
| Tevita Rawalai | United Fiji Party | |
| Josefa Gavidi | United Fiji Party | |
| Temalesi Laveti Weleilakeba | United Fiji Party | |
| Iniasi Naua | United Fiji Party | |
| Samabula | Anendra Nand | 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... |
| Silimaibau Rupeni Mavoa | United Fiji Party | |
| Solomone Vosaicake | United Fiji Party | |
| Anwar Khan Anwar Khan Anwar Khan is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in one Test in 1979. He was primarily a bowling all-rounder. He currently resides in Chicago, Illinois with his wife and his four kids.... |
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... |
|
| Babu Sachida Nand Sharma | 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... |
|
| Tamavua | Ratu Peni Volavola Peni Volavola Captain Ratu Peni Volavola is the Lord Mayor of the Fijian capital of Suva.Volavola, a Councillor representing the Tamavua ward, was elected Lord Mayor in 2003, under a memorandum of understanding between of his United Fiji Party and the National Federation Party of his predecessor, Chandu... |
United Fiji Party |
| Maciu Cerewale | United Fiji Party | |
| Panapasa Belena Ceinaturaga | United Fiji Party | |
| Ruci Gukisuva | United Fiji Party | |
| Eroni Cakacaka | United Fiji Party |