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The Federation Party was
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 ...
's first formal political party. The Citizens Federation, which had won three of the four seats reserved for
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 ...
at the
1963 elections The following elections occurred in 1963. Africa * 1963 Algerian presidential election * 1963 Chadian parliamentary election * 1963 Moroccan parliamentary election * 1963 Republic of the Congo parliamentary election * 1963 Senegalese general ele ...
, decided to formalize its role as a political party, which was officially founded on 21 June 1964 with A. D. Patel as President and Sidiq Koya as Vice-President. The merger took place in time for the party to participate in the 1965 constitutional conference which was called to map out a path towards independence from the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. In 1968, the Federation Party merged with the National Democratic Party to form the
National Federation Party The National Federation Party ( Fiji Hindi: नेशनल फेडरेशन पार्टी; Fijian: ''Mataisoqosoqo ni National Federation'') is a Fijian political party founded by A. D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Fe ...
, which is now (2021) the oldest political party in Fiji still in existence.


1965 Constitutional Conference

When, in late 1964, when the Government announced a constitutional conference to decide on Fiji's move to independence, it asked each
ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
group to select its own delegates. A.D. Patel nominated himself and three other Federation Party members, James Madhavan, C. A. Shah (nominated Indian member who had joined the Federation Party) and S. M. Koya. It was claimed that these did not represent the Indian community and an impasse was avoided when it was decided to invite all unofficial members to the
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
constitutional conference. At the conference the main difference amongst the members was that while the Federation Party members asked for common roll and immediate independence, the others wanted only a minimal change to the existing
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
. The
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
Government decided to introduce cross-voting as a compromise between the Fijian and European delegates on one side and the Indians on the other. According to the cross-voting system,
multiracial The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races (human categorization), races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicity, ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used ...
electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806 * An electoral district ...
s voted for candidates of different ethnic groups. The Legislative Council was enlarged to 36 members, consisting of 14 Fijians (9 elected on a communal roll, 3 on a cross-voting roll, and two nominated 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 ...
), 12 Indians (9 elected on a communal roll and 3 on a cross-voting roll) and 10 Europeans (7 elected on an acommunal roll and 3 on a cross-voting roll). Some of the non-contentious proposals by the Federation Party were accepted. These were the establishment of
Public Service Commission Public Service Commission may refer to: * Public utilities commission ** Alabama Public Service Commission ** Public Service Commission (Indiana) ** Public Service Commission of Utah ** Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ** Public Utilities Com ...
, Police Service Commission, and Judicial and Legal Services Commission and a
Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...
.


From 1966 until the death of A.D. Patel

The outcome of the constitutional conference was a major issue during the election, which was the first election in Fiji contested on party lines. The Federation Party was expected to win at least the three cross-voting seats in the western division because of its predominantly Indian population but managed to win only the 9 Indian communal seats. The Alliance Party won 22 seats but the three independents and the two Council of Chiefs nominees joined it to give it a total strength of 27. Ratu Kamisese Mara of the Alliance Party became the Chief Minister and A.D. Patel became the Leader of the Opposition. Ethnic tensions escalated following the adoption of
responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...
in 1967, when Patel's arch-rival, the Lauan chief Ratu Kamisese Mara was appointed
Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...
on 20 September. Mara's Alliance Party was a coalition of indigenous and European factions, with minimal Indo-Fijian participation. Patel and the NFP were consigned to the opposition benches. In protest at the new government's refusal to call a second constitutional conference, Patel led the nine Federation Party legislators in a mass walkout in September 1967. Missing two consecutive sections of the Legislative Council resulted in the forfeit of their seats, forcing
by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
s. The ensuing by-elections were marked by inter-ethnic violence. All nine Federation Party legislators were returned with increased majorities, winning 78.55% of the votes cast. A.D. Patel won by 7903 votes to 2772 for M.V. Pillay. There were demonstrations by ethnic Fijians and calls to not renew native land leases and extreme elements called for Indians to be deported from Fiji. Relations between the Indo-Fijian and indigenous communities were at a new low. The Federation Party, represented by most of its lawyer Councillors, took up the case on behalf of the farmers when arbitration proceedings were begun on 19 August 1969 for the new cane contract. The Federation Party rejected the last cane contract, blaming it for leading the farmers deeper into debt, attacked the monopoly position of CSR, its secret accounting procedures, and concealed profits and asked for a fairer price for cane based on the price of sugar and its by-products. The Denning contract awarded the growers, 65% and the millers 35% of the proceeds of all sale, including molasses. It further guaranteed the growers a minimum price of $7.75 per ton of cane paid in two instalments. Denning commended A.D. Patel for having mastery of all the facts and problems of the sugar industry and presenting them with skill and understanding.


Merger with the National Democratic Party

In November 1968, the Federation merged with the National Democratic Party to form the
National Federation Party The National Federation Party ( Fiji Hindi: नेशनल फेडरेशन पार्टी; Fijian: ''Mataisoqosoqo ni National Federation'') is a Fijian political party founded by A. D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Fe ...
. Patel and Koya became the President and Vice-President, respectively, of the merged party.
Apisai Tora Mohammad Apisai Vuniyayawa Tora (5 January 1934 – 6 August 2020) was a Fijian politician, soldier, and trade unionist. As a labour leader, he was a fighter for dock workers. As a soldier, he served in Malaya and later served as President of t ...
and Isikeli Nadalo, both indigenous Fijians, were leading figures in the NDP, and the merger brought well-known Fijians into the party for the first time. The attempt to position itself as a multi-racial party failed to translate into significant electoral support in the indigenous Fijian community.he NFP never succeeded in getting ten percent of the Fijian vote at any poll. It did, however, manage to elect several Fijians to what became the
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
after independence in 1970, owing to cross-voting in the renamed
national constituencies National constituencies were a former feature of the Fijian electoral system. They were created as a compromise between demands for universal suffrage on a common voters' roll, and for a strictly communal franchise, with Parliamentary constitu ...
. {{Political parties in Fiji Defunct political parties in Fiji Fiji Indian organisations Political parties established in 1964 Political parties disestablished in 1968