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The May 2006 general election will
be the third under the 1997 constitution.
The 1997 constitution brought significant changes to
the election and composition of the House of Representatives.
First of all, election of members is done under a preferential
voting system. The system is called the "Alternative
Vote" and is used in Australia in its House
of Representatives and also in Nauru and Papua New Guinea
in a modified form. Ever since the Fiji Islands gained
independence in 1970 from Great Britain, Fiji always
used the simple majority voting system of "First
Past the Post."
Another change brought in through the new electoral
provisions is that the newly-elected members to the
new House of Representatives are to come from single-member
constituencies rather than the previous multi-member
constituencies under the 1990 Constitution.
This means that as there are 71 single-member constituencies,
there are 71 seats in the House of Representatives.
The 71 seats comprise as follows in comparison to the
composition of the previous House of Representatives.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
| |
1990
CONSTITUTION |
1997
CONSTITUTION |
| Fijian Seats |
37 |
23 |
| Indian Seats |
27 |
19 |
| Rotuman Seats |
1 |
1 |
| General Seats |
5 |
3 |
| Open Seats |
- |
25 |
| TOTAL |
70 |
71 |
All 71 seats are to be contested in
the 2006 election. The newly-elected members generally
serve a full-term of 5 years before the next election.
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