1963 Fijian general election

Constitutional amendments in June 1962 saw significant changes to the composition to the Legislative Council, which had remained unchanged since 1937. The Council was expanded from 33 to 37 members, of which 19 were 'official' members (usually heads of Government departments) and 18 'unofficial' members, 12 of whom were elected.

Of the 12 elected members, there were four Fijians and four Indo-Fijians elected from single member constituencies, with four Europeans elected from three seats, with the Southern constituency electing three members. Some people could choose between ethnic rolls and no provision was made for Rotumans, Pacific Islanders, Chinese and part-Chinese to vote. Voting was still limited to literate people. The Governor nominated a further two members from each of the three communities, with the Fijians being chosen from a list provided by the Great Council of Chiefs.[1] The Legislative Councillors of each race were permitted to select two of their members to the Executive Council.

There was also a number of changes to qualifications for candidates to run for office. Indian and European civil servants were prohibited from nominating as candidates, but this provision did not apply to Fijians as there were few qualified Fijians outside the civil service. Candidates were required, not only to be eligible to be registered as a voter, but to be actually registered. This provision disqualified Ayodhya Prasad as he was out of the country during the registration period.

Voter registration took place between 1 July and 30 September 1962,[2] with 52,935 Fijians, 36,137 Indians and 4,526 Europeans registering.[3]

Most candidates contested the election as independents, although the Citizens Federation (which became the Federation Party in 1964) endorsed A. D. Patel, Sidiq Koya and James Madhavan, while the Kisan Sangh endorsed Deo Sharma, James Shankar Singh and Harsih Chandra Kohli respectively as their opponents. The Western Democratic Party nominated Apisai Tora and Isikeli Nadalo, both for the Western Fijian Constituency. Isikei Nadalo was also endorsed by Fijian National Party.

There were two significant outcomes of the elections; the secret ballot amongst Fijians led to the consolidation of the power of the Fijian establishment, notably in the Western Fijian Constituency, where the Tovata high chief, Ratu Penaia Ganilau won by 7,347 votes against local commoners Apisai Tora (1,496 votes) and Isikeli Nadalo (659 votes). In the Indian community, voters in the sugar cane districts clearly endorsed the policies of the Federation led by A.D. Patel over those of the Kisan Sangh, by electing its three candidates; A.D. Patel defeated Deo Sharma by 6,244 votes to 3,346 votes, S.M. Koya defeated James Shankar Singh by 3,998 votes to 3,480 votes and James Madhavan defeated Harish Chandra Kohli by 2,753 vote to 2,175 votes.