71 Facts About Mahendra Chaudhry

Mahendra Pal Chaudhry is a Fijian politician and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party.

Mahendra Chaudhry was one of the leading voices raised in opposition to the Qarase government's proposed Reconciliation and Unity Commission, which he said was just a mechanism to grant amnesty to persons guilty of coup-related offences.

Mahendra Chaudhry was co-chair of the task force focusing on economic growth within the National Council for Building a Better Fiji.

Mahendra Chaudhry was born in an Indo-Fijian family in the town of Ba in Fiji.

Mahendra Chaudhry later returned to India with his wife, Ram Kalia, who died 22 September 1930 at the age of 45, and whom he had met and married in Fiji.

Mahendra Chaudhry was Ram Gopal's eldest son and one of his 15 children.

Mahendra Chaudhry worked as a government auditor, then as secretary of the Fiji Public Service Association during its 1973 strike, and later as vice-president of the Fiji Trades Union Congress.

Mahendra Chaudhry served on the board of the Fiji National Provident Fund until 1986.

In 2004, Mahendra Chaudhry received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, which is granted to members of the Indian diaspora to honor their contributions to the countries of which they are members.

Mahendra Chaudhry was the first Fijian citizen to receive this award.

Mahendra Chaudhry helped to launch the Fiji Labour Party in 1985, and served as its assistant secretary.

FLP decided to field Mahendra Chaudhry, who was the general secretary of the National Farmers Union, as its candidate.

Mahendra Chaudhry was elected to Parliament for the first time in the 1987 general election and appointed Minister of Finance and Economic Planning in the coalition government of Timoci Bavadra.

Mahendra Chaudhry was elected general secretary of the FTUC, and in this role led union resistance to the military regime.

Mahendra Chaudhry subsequently warned the military regime that Australian and New Zealand unions would be asked to take action against Fiji if the harassment of unions continued.

Mahendra Chaudhry's home was attacked by a gang of masked men, who smashed windows and damaged his car.

Mahendra Chaudhry remained active in the Labour Party, and assumed leadership of the party in 1991 from Adi Kuini Bavadra, widow of Timoci Bavadra who had died in 1989.

Mahendra Chaudhry, then had no choice but to lead the FLP into the election.

Mahendra Chaudhry, meanwhile, forged the People's Coalition, an electoral alliance consisting of his Labour Party, and two other parties, both led by indigenous Fijians disaffected by Rabuka's administration.

Mahendra Chaudhry was duly appointed Prime Minister on 19 May 1999.

When democracy was restored in 2001, Mahendra Chaudhry fought a hotly contested election, but was defeated by Laisenia Qarase of the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua.

Mahendra Chaudhry rebuilt the Labour Party, which won several key by-elections throughout 2004.

Mahendra Chaudhry 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.

Late in 2004, Mahendra 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.

Mahendra Chaudhry was criticised by some prominent members of the FLP, including Krishna Datt and Poseci Bune, for finalising his list of Senate nominees without consulting the Party.

Mahendra Chaudhry's decision that the Labour Party should join the multi-party cabinet, was a course for friction within the party.

Prime Minister Qarase demanded that all cabinet members vote for the budget or face dismissal, but Mahendra Chaudhry advised the Labour cabinet members to oppose it because of the increase in VAT tax.

Mahendra Chaudhry resigned as Minister of Finance on 18 August 2008, along with the Labour Party's two other ministers; Bainimarama took over Mahendra Chaudhry's portfolio.

The Labour Party won only 2.4 percent of the vote, and no parliamentary seats, and Mahendra Chaudhry joined the leaders of other opposition parties in alleging electoral fraud.

On 3 July 2015, Mahendra Chaudhry was quoted by Radio New Zealand as announcing his retirement from the leadership of the FLP, having served in that capacity for 23 years.

Mahendra Chaudhry subsequently accused Fiji of still being a dictatorship.

Mahendra Chaudhry attempted to contest the 2018 election, but was ruled to be ineligible as a candidate due to his past criminal conviction.

Mahendra Chaudhry is known for his combative style of leadership, which has won him both admirers and enemies.

Mahendra Chaudhry remained at loggerheads with the National Federation Party, whose support dropped sharply in 1999,2001 and 2006 elections, but continued to do well in local government elections.

Mahendra Chaudhry failed to make significant inroads into the ethnic Fijian electorate, less than ten percent of whom voted for his party in 2001 or 2006.

Mahendra Chaudhry was successful in attracting several high-profile ethnic Fijians, such as Poseci Bune, to his party.

Mahendra Chaudhry expressed alarm at the high rate of emigration from Fiji, especially of Fiji-Indians, and of educated indigenous Fijians.

Mahendra Chaudhry blamed the coups of 1987 for "brain drain" which had, he said, had adversely affected the sugar industry, the standard of the education and health services, and the efficiency of the civil service.

Mahendra Chaudhry lamented the "indications of a growing feeling of insecurity, frustration and disaffection among people of all races at the direction in which Fiji appears to be headed," and said that only way to reverse the trend was to elect a government that would provide stability, raise living standards, and create a climate of confidence for investors and opportunities for job seekers.

Mahendra Chaudhry spoke in favour of bringing more ethnic Fijians into the economic mainstream.

Mahendra Chaudhry attacked what he called the "divide and rule" policies of Fiji's former British colonial rulers, saying that indigenous Fijians had been isolated from other communities and marginalized economically.

Mahendra Chaudhry called for a more individualistic approach to society, based on incentives and appropriate training.

Mahendra Chaudhry did not believe that modernization would threaten the communal structure of Fijian society.

Mahendra Chaudhry insisted that culture could not be allowed to be stagnant.

Mahendra Chaudhry condemned Prime Minister Qarase for speaking against the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

Mahendra Chaudhry countered by saying that Qarase was like a proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand.

Mahendra Chaudhry periodically called for Fiji's electoral system to be reformed.

Mahendra Chaudhry said on 20 November 2005 that communal voting, which reserved almost two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives for persons registered on ethnic electoral rolls, tended to polarize the nation and gave foundation to politicians with what he called extreme views.

Mahendra Chaudhry said that any move to change this provision in the Constitution would be supported by the Opposition.

Mahendra Chaudhry said on 18 October 2005 that he and the FLP would not support Prime Minister Qarase's attempts to close constitutional loopholes that undermine Fiji's anti-gay laws.

Mahendra Chaudhry said that gay rights were guaranteed by the constitution and must be upheld; the Prime Minister, who needed a two-thirds majority in Parliament to change the constitution, was just wasting his time trying to gain FLP support for the measure, he said.

Mahendra Chaudhry said that in the five years of Qarase's leadership, public debt had doubled to F$2.3 billion, that basic infrastructure had deteriorated, and that the economy was on the brink of collapse.

Mahendra Chaudhry has been involved in a number of controversial circumstances over the years, ranging from a manslaughter conviction in 1978 to allegations of misuse of funds as recently as 2005.

In 1978, Mahendra Chaudhry was involved in a fatal automobile accident and was convicted of failing to stop after a fatal accident.

Mahendra Chaudhry was sentenced to nine months's imprisonment, but was released on parole after serving 17 days of his sentence.

On 8 December 2005, Mahendra Chaudhry announced his decision to sue Prime Minister Qarase and Fiji Television for defamation.

Mahendra Chaudhry had raised the issue with then Chief Minister of Haryana Om Prakash Chautala, he said, after being hounded by the media in both Fiji and India.

Mahendra Chaudhry claimed to have discovered only during his 2005 visit to India that Chautala's record with money is not transparent.

At the scheduled press conference on 9 December, the Prime Minister revealed a confidential letter from Mahendra Chaudhry, written on National Farmers Union letterhead in his capacity as General Secretary of the Union, to Charles Walker, chairman of the Fiji Sugar Corporation, in September 2003.

Equipment in Mahendra Chaudhry's office had been used to communicate with the company since 2002, he alleged.

Mahendra Chaudhry derided the revelations as "laughable," and said that they showed no connection whatsoever between himself and India's Exim Bank, or with the Indian government loan.

Mahendra Chaudhry was ordered to pay F$750 to Qarase and Fiji Television Limited to cover court costs.

Mahendra Chaudhry had failed, Gates said, to provide "credible evidence" that Qarase's words were untruthful, and therefore there was no grounds to prohibit their publication.

Mahendra Chaudhry was fully booked judging criminal cases, and had no time to devote to civil suits, he said.

Mahendra Chaudhry released correspondence on 20 January 2006, citing it as proof that neither he nor his party had tried to collect a commission on Indian loans granted for sugar industry reform.

The writ against the government-owned newspaper, whose editor Mesake Koroi is a cousin of Prime Minister Qarase's, concerns what Mahendra Chaudhry claims are "untrue and malicious" allegations, suggesting a leadership struggle within the FLP.

The Prime Minister alleges that Mahendra Chaudhry has allowed Senator Anand Singh to use office equipment for commercial purposes.

Mahendra Chaudhry was registered as an advisor to the Inter-Religious Federation For World Peace International, an organization affiliated with the Unification Church.

Mahendra Chaudhry slammed the government decision, saying that it was treating Moon like a terrorist or a criminal.

Mahendra Chaudhry has founded an organisation that believes in the inculcation of moral and family values to bring about better global understanding and harmony.

Mahendra Chaudhry was cleared of any taxation breaches after the Inquiry team brought over from Australia studied the evidence and documents provided by the FIRCA, stating that Mr Mahendra Chaudhry had not breached any taxation laws.