Immediately after Fiji was ceded to the United Kingdom, on 10 October 1874,[1] the first Governor, Sir Hercules Robinson, established an Executive Council with himself as President and comprising six other Europeans.
In addition to the Executive Council, Gordon established a Legislative Council composed entirely of nominated members, of whom six were official (public officers, usually heads of Government departments), including the Governor of Fiji, the Colonial Secretary (the day-to-day executive power), the Chief Justice of Fiji and the Attorney General of Fiji; and four unofficial (representatives of the community not directly employed by the Government) members nominated by the Governor with the approval of the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
On 29 January 1917, Badril Maharaj, representing the Indian community, took the twelfth nominated seat in the Legislative Council.
On 1 May 1929, the franchise was extended to Indian males twenty-one years of age and over who met the same income, residency, literacy and nationality qualifications as Europeans.
Europeans and Indians were elected from separate communal rolls, while the Fijians were nominated from a panel of four to six names submitted by the Great Council of Chiefs.
In addition, there were five non-official members from each of the three major ethnic groups (Fijians, Indo-Fijians, and Europeans); Indo-Fijians and Europeans directly elected 3 members each, with a further 2 being appointed by the Governor; all 5 Fijian representatives were appointed by the Governor from a list of ten names submitted by the Great Council of Chiefs.
A four-member Executive Council had existed from 1904, but it was not a Cabinet in the modern sense: it was appointed by the colonial Governor and responsible to him alone.
A grandfather clause in the Constitution provided for the old Legislative Council to remain in office, with its name changed to the House of Representatives, pending the first post-independence elections of 1972.