The National Federation Party gave Fiji gifted leaders like Ambalal Dahyabhai Patel, Siddiq Moidin Koya and Harish Sharma, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said in a message that was read out at the party’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in Rakiraki last Saturday.
“The NFP, Fiji’s first organised political party, always championed the descendants of the girmitiya,” he said.
“Those settlers from India did so much, even in their bondage, to create a rural industry that was for generations the centrepiece of Fiji’s economy.
“The NFP gave us gifted leaders like AD Patel, SM Koya, and Harish Sharma,” Mr Rabuka said.
“As Fiji began to move away from colonialism, the NFP played a critical role in the momentous and complex negotiations with the United Kingdom which led to the birth of a new nation — our homeland.
“The NFP voice rang out in great parliamentary debates, especially for the creation of the ALTA legislation and many other initiatives including the formation of the Fiji National Provident Fund. The NFP made its mark also in sugar industry Master Award deliberations.
“The NFP has endured, it has stayed on course. Even when the party was torn by strife, the mango tree did not fall; its roots were deep.”
