Mahendra Chaudhry
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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, Brigadier General 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 violates the Constitution. Appeals, counter-appeals, and negotiations have delayed the appointment of Labour Ministers to the Cabinet, but they are expected to take their place later this year (2004). The Labour Party 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. On the other hand, he has a remarkable personal rapport with the former President, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, a relationship that appears to have deepened following the ouster of both men in 2000. Whether his open friendship with Mara will enable him to 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.