Ganesh Chand

Who is Ganesh Chand?

Dr. Ganeshwar Chand, better known as Ganesh Chand, is a Fijian academic and former politician of Indian descent. He is a founder of the University of Fiji and serves as a Trustee of the Fiji Institute of Applied Studies and as Editor of Fijian Studies: A Journal of Contemporary Fiji.

From 1999 to 2006, Chand represented the Lautoka City Indian Communal Constituency, one of 19 reserved for Indo-Fijians, having won for the seat for the Fiji Labour Party in the parliamentary elections of 1999 and 2001. He was Minister for Local Government, State Planning, and Housing in the government of Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, in 1999 and 2000.

On 19 May 2000, He was among the 43 members of the People's Coalition Government, led by Mahendra Chaudhry, taken hostage by George Speight and his band of rebel Republic of Fiji Military Forces soldiers from the Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit. He was released on 13 July 2000 after 56 days of captivity.

Chand was considered one of the more moderate members of the FLP, and spoke against the practice of using the "fear factor" to attract votes.