Raman Pratap Singh (6 June 1950 – 18 May 2020) was a

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 ...

an lawyer and politician of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n descent.

Early life

Singh was born on 6 June 1950 in Buabua. He graduated with a law degree in 1977 and began working as a lawyer in 1978. He was a director on the Sugar Cane Growers Council and member of the Fiji Sugar Commission. In 1982, he began working as a town clerk for

Labasa Labasa (, ) is a town in Fiji with a population of 28,500 at the 2010 census. Labasa is located in Macuata Province, in the north-eastern part of the island of Vanua Levu, and is the largest town on the island. The town itself is located on a ...

Town Council.

Political career

Raman contested the 1994 election on 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 ...

(NFP) ticket, winning the Bua Indian seat in 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 ...

.The Fiji Times - Monday, February 28, 1994 Singh was elected President of the mostly

Indo-Fijian 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 ...

National Federation Party (NFP) on 31 July 2005, replacing Dorsami Naidu, who resigned facing

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

charges (of which he was subsequently

acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an o ...

). Singh's immediate task was to fight the

parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

, held on 6–13 May 2006, with the hope of regaining representation for the NFP, which it lost in the 1999 election. The attempt was a failure, with the party dropping to just 6 percent of the vote, its lowest to date. Singh resigned as NFP president on 29 March 2014, citing the need for "new blood" and "fresh faces" in the party leadership. He attempted to regain his seat for the NFP at the 2014 election in September, but was not successful. Singh died on 18 May 2020 in

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

Family

His father,

Ram Jati Singh Ram Jati Singh, OBE (1908–1992) was a Fiji Indian politician and landlord who was elected to the Legislative Council in the 1966 general elections on the National Federation Party (NFP) ticket. He was re-elected in the 1968 by-election with an ...

, was a member of 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 ...

, elected on the

(NFP) ticket.

Lisa Singh Lisa Maria Singh (born 20 February 1972) is an Australian former politician. She was a Australian Senate, Senator for Tasmania from 2011 to 2019. She had previously been a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, representing the division of D ...

, the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, is his niece.

References

1950 births 2020 deaths Fijian Hindus National Federation Party politicians Indian members of the House of Representatives (Fiji) 20th-century Fijian lawyers Politicians from Bua Province Fijian politicians of Indian descent {{fiji-politician-stub