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 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 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.
The British 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 electorates voted for candidates of different ethnic groups. The Legislative Council was enlarged to 36 members, consisting of 14 Fijians (9 elected on communal roll, 3 on cross-voting roll and two nominated by the Great Council of Chiefs), 12 Indians (9 elected on communal roll and 3 on cross-voting roll) and 10 Europeans (7 elected on communal roll and 3 on cross-voting roll). Some of the non-contentious proposals by the Federation Party were accepted. These were the establishment of Public Service Commission, Police Service Commission and Judicial and Legal Services Commission and a Bill of Rights.
Read more about this topic: National Federation Party (Fiji)
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