Suva lawyer Samuela Matawalu became the new Lord Mayor of Suva, stated an article published in The Fiji Times on November 22, 1988.
Mr Matwalu, 40, beat the incumbent, Vijay Raghwan, 10 to 9 votes in the Suva City Council’s election which occurred the previous day.
The new deputy mayor was George Pickering, who beat Sanirusi Matalomani by the same margin.
A visibly shocked Mr Raghwan said after his loss that 14 councillors had promised to vote for him.
“But I accept the result of the election and hope to work with Mr Matawalu as a group because it is our city,” he said.
Mr Raghwan said he had a very difficult task when he was voted in and he did what he had to do.
“I was not out to be the most popular lord mayor but one who got things done and my record speaks for itself.”
Intense lobbying preceded the elections, with members of the Suva City Council’s Staff Association and supporters of Mr Matawalu displaying placards that urged the new 19 newly-appointed councillors to vote out Mr Raghwan.
Mr Matawalu, who ran a small law practice in the city, told this newspaper after his election that he saw a need to redirect certain policies of the last council.
He specifically mentioned the market and bus station projects saying he would be in a better position to release the new council’s 1989 program a little later.
He was “mindful” of the problems of certain groups in the city and hoped to meet these groups and discuss their problems with them.
Mr Matawalu said he was not a ratepayer but “as a councillor who rented premises in the city, would ensure the interests of ratepayers were looked after”.
He said he would work with Mr Pickering to ensure the interests of everyone in the city was guaranteed.
Mr Matawalu’s name was moved by the deputy mayor in the last council, Mahendra Sukhdeo, to the surprise of many in the public gallery.
Mr Sukhdeo had actively campaigned for the Matawalu/ Pickering team in the weeks preceding the election.
On the other side of the aisle, it was Mr Matalomani who moved Mr Raghwan’s name.
Mr Pickering’s name for deputy mayor was moved by Navin Chandra and Mr Mataloman’s name was moved by Ramalal Patel.
The result of the elections was held up for a while as scrutinisers decided on the validity of one ballot paper.
The paper had a tick (as required) against Mr Matawalu’s name and a cross against Mr Raghwan’s.
Town clerk Vishnu Chand, who was called in to adjudicate ruled in favour of Mr Matawalu.
President of the SCC staff association, Jale Toki said the association welcomed the change.
“We have had enough of Mr Raghwan because dispute after dispute remained unsettled during his term as lord mayor,” Mr Toki said.
“With the new team in place, we look forward to working hard to get the council moving efficiently.”
More than 50 council workers, ratepayers and supporters of the two mayoral candidates packed the foyer outside the council chambers for the elections.
The meeting on November 21 was the first for the 19 councillors nominated to the council by the Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Tomasi Vakatora, for a year, earlier in the week.
Their appointments followed the expiry of the last council’s team.
