Mahendra Pal Chaudhry (born 1942) is the leader of the Fiji Labour Party. Following a historic election in which he defeated the long-time former leader, Sitiveni Rabuka, the former trade union leader became Fiji's first Indo-Fijian Prime Minister on May 19 1999, but exactly one year later, on May 19 2000 he and most of his Cabinet were taken hostage by the hardline Fijian nationalist leader George Speight, in the Fiji coup of 2000. Unable to exercise his duties, he and his ministers were sacked by President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara on May 27; Mara intended to assume emergency powers himself (but was himself deposed by the military leader, Commodore Frank Bainimarama).
Chaudhry was later released and embarked on a tour of the world to rally support. When democracy was restored in 2001, Chaudhry fought a hotly contested election, but was defeated by Laisenia Qarase of the United Fiji Party. It is thought that attrition within the Labour Party was a factor in his defeat; high-profile party members like Tupeni Baba had split to form the New Labour Unity Party and he had barely survived a leadership challenge. Mutual enmity between his party and the National Federation Party, the only other political party with significant Indo-Fijian support, prevented a preference-swapping deal. In Fiji's system of transferable voting, such a deal would almost certainly have made him Prime Minister again. (Fiji's electoral laws, modelled on those of Australia, allow the votes of any two or more candidates in a particular constituency to be combined according to the candidates' preferences; voters may specify a different choice by ranking the candidates numerically in the order of their preference).
Chaudhry has since rebuilt the Labour Party, which has won several key byelections in recent months. He has challenged in the courts the refusal of the Qarase government to include his party in the Cabinet; on 18 July 2003, the Supreme Court ruled in his favour, saying that the exclusion of a party with more than 8 seats in the House of Representatives violated the Constitution. Appeals, counter-appeals, and negotiations delayed the appointment of Labour Ministers to the Cabinet, however. The Supreme Court subsequently ruled in June 2004 that the Labour Party was entitled to 14 out of 30 cabinet posts. Qarase announced that he would implement the order, but his refusal to include Chaudhry himself in any cabinet lineup continued to stall negotiations on the composition of the cabinet. Late in 2004, Chaudhry announced that the Labour Party had decided to remain in opposition for the remainder of the parliamentary term, seeing no way to resolve the impasse without making unacceptable compromises. By remaining outside of the government, the Labour Party is able to distance itself from unpopular decisions made by the administration, and seems well-positioned to challenge the ruling United Fiji Party for power in 2006.
Chaudhry is known for his combative style of leadership, which has won him both admirers and enemies. He remains at loggerheads with the National Federation Party, whose support dropped sharply in 1999 and 2001, but appears to have partially revived in recent times. It would be to his advantage to reach a deal on an exchange of preferences with the NFP, but neither he nor they are presently interested. Whether he will make significant inroads into the ethnic Fijian electorate, only two percent of whom voted for his party in 1999 and 2001, remains to be seen. He has been successful, however, in attracting several high-profile ethnic Fijians, such as Poseci Bune , to his party.
Last updated: 05-23-2005 05:26:15
