Mahendra Chaudhry

Mahendra Pal Chaudhry (born 9 February 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 won several key byelections throughout 2004. He 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.

Chaudhry's ancestral ties are with the village of Bahu Jamalpur in Rohtak District, in the Indian state of Haryana. His grandfather, Ram Nath Chaudhry, emigrated to Fiji in 1912 to work on Fiji's sugarcane plantations. Although he later returned to India with his wife, Ram Kalia, whom he had met and married in Fiji, their two sons, Ram Gopal Chaudhry and Krishnan Gopal Chaudhry remained in Fiji. Ram Gopal had fifteen children, one of them Mahendra.

Mahendra Chaudhry was educated at Tavua Indian School and Shri Vivekanand High School. He subsequently worked as a research laboratory officer for the Emperor Gold Mine, before becoming an auditor in the Auditor General's office. In 1975, he became Secretary General of the Fiji Public Service Association.

In 1978, Chaudhry was convicted of manslaughter for his involvement in a fatal automobile accident. He was sentenced to nine months's imprisonment for failing to stop after the accident. After serving only three days of the sentence, however, he was released on a Compulsory Supervision Order (i.e., parole). Prime Minister Qarase drew media attention to Chaudhry's manslaughter conviction and his almost immediate release, in response to Chaudhry's criticism of government decisions to show leniency towards persons convicted of involvement in the 2000 coup, including former Vice-President Ratu Jope Seniloli and Cabinet Minister Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu. Qarase accused Chaudhry and others his supporters of "living in glasshouses." "(They) are led by a man who has been convicted by the Suva magistrate’s court for causing the death of a person," Qarase said on 17 April 2005. "Mr Chaudhry himself was convicted sometime back for manslaughter and he was released from prison only three days after serving his sentence on a CSO (Compulsory Supervision Order." Chaudhry reacted angrily to this attack, saying that there was no comparison between a premeditated act of treason and a mere traffic offence for which he had not been sent to jail (the prison sentence was not for causing death, but for failing to stop).

Chaudhry has been married to Virmati since 1965; they have three children and several grandchildren. Unlike the Hindu Chaudhry, Virmati is a born-again Christian (source). While her husband and son, Rajendra were still in captivity, she announced on 18 June 2000 that she had decided to forgive George Speight.

External link

• Frontline:Concern in Haryana