Sidiq Koya
| Siddiq Moidin Koya | |
|---|---|
| Member of Legislative Council | |
|
In office 1963–1972 |
|
| Member of House of Representatives | |
|
In office 1972–1977 |
|
| Succeeded by | Jai Ram Reddy |
|
In office 1982–1987 |
|
| Leader of Opposition | |
|
In office 1969–1977 |
|
| Preceded by | A.D. Patel |
| Succeeded by | Harish Sharma |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 29 February 1923 Ba, Fiji |
| Died | 25 April 1993 (aged 70) Lautoka, Fiji |
| Political party | National Federation Party |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Muslim |
Siddiq Moidin Koya (1923–1993) was a Fijian Indian politician and Opposition leader. He succeeded to the leadership of the mostly Indo-Fijian National Federation Party (NFP) on the death of the party's founder, A. D. Patel, in October 1969, remaining in this post until 1977. He later served a second term as leader of the NFP, from 1984 to 1987.
Koya is credited with his role in paving the way for Fijian independence from Britain in 1970. The National Federation Party had been opposing plans for independence without significant changes to the constitution. The NFP, in particular, wanted a legislature to be elected by universal suffrage from a common electoral roll of all voters – a demand rejected by the main ethnic Fijian politicians, who wanted a communal franchise with parliamentary seats allocated among the different ethnic groups, elected from ethnic electoral rolls. Sidiq Koya was more willing to compromise than his predecessor, and he was instrumental in persuading his party and his people to accept independence with a communal franchise.
Sidiq Koya was born in Ba District in a of prominent Malayalam Muslim family. He only went to year six in primary school and never saw the doors of a high school. Being a son of a cane farmer he worked his way up and later worked for the law firm of S. B. Patel in Lautoka. He then travelled to Tasmania to obtain his Law degree from the University of Tasmania. He and his wife Amina, had three children, daughter Shahnaaz and sons Faiyaz and Faizal and six grandchildren, Aleisha, Benjamin, Elizabeth, Zane, Akif and Farhaan who now reside in Australia, Canada and Fiji.
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