Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua
|
United Fiji Party
Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua |
|
|---|---|
| President | Ratu Kalokalo Loki |
| General Secretary | Jale Baba |
| Founder | Laisenia Qarase |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Dissolved | January 2013 |
| Succeeded by | Social Democratic Liberal Party |
| International affiliation | None |
The United Fiji Party (Fijian: Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua, SDL) was a political party in Fiji. It was founded in 2001 by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase as a power base; it absorbed most of the Christian Democratic Alliance and other conservative groups, and its endorsement by the Great Council of Chiefs (Bose Levu Vakaturaga) caused it to be widely seen as the successor to the Alliance Party, the former ruling party that had dominated Fijian politics from the 1960s to the 1980s. It draws its support mainly from indigenous Fijiians.
The party was led in Parliament by Prime Minister Qarase. The party organization was headed up by Ratu Kalokalo Loki as President and by Jale Baba as General Secretary (later termed National Director) until early 2006, when he was transferred at the beginning of 2006 to managing the campaign for the 2006 General Election. Peceli Kinivuwai took over as National Director.
From the time of its inception, the SDL stood for the economic and social advancement of all Fiji citizens. There was a strong focus however on reducing the economic gap between the different ethnic communities, which continued to be a controversial issue for many commentators who accused the SDL of blatant racism. It also called for a consolidation of the rule of law and claims to support an independent judiciary.
The SDL contested 59 of the 71 parliamentary seats in the 2001 elections; this figure included only 7 of the 19 seats reserved for Indo-Fijians. It received 26 percent of the vote, well short of the 32 percent polled by the Fiji Labour Party, but helped by preference deals with other ethnic Fijian-dominated parties as well as the Indo-Fijian-led National Federation Party, it became the largest party in Parliament, with 32 out of 71 seats. It subsequently formed a coalition with the Conservative Alliance, which remains in office as of September 2005.
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