HOW THE FIJI ISLANDS ELECTORAL SYSTEM WORKS

The May 2006 general election will be the third under the 1997 constitution.

The 1997 constitution brought significant changes to the election and composition of the House of Representatives.

First of all, election of members is done under a preferential voting system. The system is called the "Alternative Vote" and is used in Australia in its House of Representatives and also in Nauru and Papua New Guinea in a modified form. Ever since the Fiji Islands gained independence in 1970 from Great Britain, Fiji always used the simple majority voting system of "First Past the Post."

Another change brought in through the new electoral provisions is that the newly-elected members to the new House of Representatives are to come from single-member constituencies rather than the previous multi-member constituencies under the 1990 Constitution.

This means that as there are 71 single-member constituencies, there are 71 seats in the House of Representatives.

The 71 seats comprise as follows in comparison to the composition of the previous House of Representatives.

All 71 seats are to be contested in the 2006 election. The newly-elected members generally serve a full-term of 5 years before the next election.