General elections were held in

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

on 31 August 1932, although only one of the nine elected seats was contested.

Electoral system

The

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

consisted of thirteen appointed Civil Servants, nine elected members (six Europeans and three

Indo-Fijians Indo-Fijians () are Fijians of South Asian descent whose ancestors were Girmitiyas, indentured labourers. Indo-Fijians trace their ancestry to various regions of the Indian subcontinent. Although Indo-Fijians constituted a majority of Fiji's ...

) and three Fijians appointed from a list of between four and six potential candidates presented to the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

by the

Great Council of Chiefs The Great Council of Chiefs () is a Fijian constitutional body. It previously existed from 1876 to March 2012 and was restored in May 2023. It is different from the House of Chiefs, a larger body that includes all hereditary chiefs, although m ...

. The Governor also sat in the Council as its President.1932 Legislative Council Election
Fiji Elections Archive Voting for Europeans was restricted to men aged 21 or over who had been born to European parents (or a European father and was able to read, speak and write English), who were British subjects and had been continuously resident in Fiji for 12 months, and who either owned at least £20 of freehold or leasehold property or had an annual income of at least £120. A total of 1,533 Europeans (127 in Eastern, 259 in Northern, 750 in Suva, 254 in Vanua Levu & Taveuni and 143 in Western) were registered to vote.Personnel of New Council
, ''

Pacific Islands Monthly ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', commonly referred to as "PIM", was a magazine founded in 1930 in Sydney by New Zealand born journalist R.W. Robson. Background ''Pacific Islands Monthly'' was started in Sydney in 1930. The first issue ran in August ...

'', November 1932, p16 For Indo-Fijians, eligibility was also restricted to men aged 21 or over. They had to be a British subject or from British India, have lived continuously in the Fiji for at least two years, be able to read or write in English, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu or Urdu, and for the previous six months, have either owned property with an annual value of five years, had a net annual cash income of at least £75, or held a Government or municipal licence worth at least £5 annually. A total of 1,585 Indo-Fijians (140 in Eastern, 669 in Northern & Western and 776 in Southern) were enrolled. In both ethnic categories, civil servants were barred from voting.

Campaign

Between the 1929 elections and the 1932 elections, the leader of the Indo-Fijian community

Vishnu Deo Pt. Vishnu Deo (Hindi: विष्णु देव) OBE (17 July 1900 – 7 May 1968) was the first Fiji born and bred leader of the Indo-Fijians. From his initial election to the Legislative Council in 1929 to his retirement in 1959, he rem ...

had been convicted of an offence and was barred from running for election.1932 Fiji Legislative Council elections
Fiji Elections The community decided to nominate only two candidates for the three seats, with no-one running in the Eastern Division. In the European seats, the only candidates were the sitting Council members, resulting in all six being returned unopposed.

Results

Nominated members

Aftermath

After the Legislative Council was opened, the Indo-Fijian members put forward another proposal for a common roll. It had been planned that both elected members would resign after the proposal was rejected, but Northern and Western member Muniswamy Mudaliar refused to give up his seat. Southern Division member K. B. Singh did resign and was re-elected in a by-election the following year, winning by a larger margin. The by-election was boycotted by the Muslim community, who were demanding their own reserved seat.Fiji Indian Election
''

'', July 1933, p42

References

{{Fijian elections

1932 in Fiji Elections in Fiji

August 1932