Fiji: Political Parties Material

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0101 PP.FJ
Held at	: Institute of Commonwealth Studies   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://commonwealth.sas.ac.uk/resources/library ›
Full title	: Fiji: Political Parties Material
Date(s)	: 1972-
Level of description	: Collection (Fonds)
Extent	: 1 box
Name of creator(s)	: Institute of Commonwealth Studies
Detailed catalogue	: Click here to view repository detailed catalogue

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Fiji became independent in October 1970, adopting a constitution which in practice involved a compromise between the principles of parliamentary democracy and the racial divisions within the country. This constitution (which guaranteed the minority Fijian population a majority of seats) kept the Alliance Party in power for seventeen years, until the Indian-dominated National Federation Party joined in coalition with the new Labour Party and won the 1987 elections. An army coup followed which restored control to the leaders of the indigenous population and set the tone for politics up to the present day, with the native Fijians attempting through constitutional changes and further coups to prevent the assertion of majority rule. The material in this collection deals mainly with the electoral struggles prior to 1987, the main issues being race, the constitution and the labour movement.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Manifestos, speeches, posters, constitutions, leaflets, newspapers, convention reports and miscellaneous election materials issued by the Alliance Party, the Fiji Labour Party, the Federation Party and the National Federation Party.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
Predominantly English, some items in Hindi.

System of arrangement:

Alphabetically by party, and then in rough chronological order.

Conditions governing access:

Open to all for research purposes; access is free for anyone in higher education.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.

Finding aids:

Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT)

Archival Information

Archival history:

The ICS political parties collection was begun in 1960-1961, with special emphasis being placed on primary material such as party constitutions, policy statements, convention reports and election manifestos. Since then, the main method of gathering material has been to appeal directly to political parties throughout the Commonwealth, though contributions from Institute members and staff following visits to relevant countries have been significant. More recently material has been collected by means of downloading documents from the websites of the major parties.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Allied Materials

Related material:

See also Political Party, Trades Unions and Pressure Group Materials for other Commonwealth countries and related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held at the ICS.

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Description compiled by Daniel Millum, Political Archives Project Officer at the Institutes of Commonwealth and Latin American Studies.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Created 04/11/2003 AIM25