Raman Pratap Singh is a Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

an lawyer and politician of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n descent. His father, Ram Jati Singh

Ram Jati Singh

Ram Jati Singh, OBE was a Fiji Indian politician and landlord who was elected to the Legislative Council in the 1966 general elections on the National Federation Party ticket. He was re-elected in the 1968 by-election with an increased majority....

, was a member of the Legislative Council

Legislative Council (Fiji)

The Fijian Legislative Council was the colonial precursor to the present-day Parliament, which came into existence when Fiji became independent on 10 October 1970.-The first Legislative Council:...

, elected on the National Federation Party

National Federation Party (Fiji)

The National Federation Party is a Fijian political party founded by A.D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Federation Party and the National Democratic Party...

 (NFP) ticket. Raman contested the 1994 election on the NFP ticket, winning the Bua Indian seat in the House of Representatives

House of Representatives (Fiji)

The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of Fiji's Parliament. It is the more powerful of the two chambers; it alone has the power to initiate legislation...

. Singh was elected President of the mostly Indo-Fijian National Federation Party (NFP) on 31 July 2005, replacing Dorsami Naidu

Dorsami Naidu

Dorsami Naidu is a Fijian lawyer and politician. On 29 July 2005, he announced his intention to resign as President of the National Federation Party at the party conference on the 31 July, following his being taken in for questioning on assault and indecent assault charges, of which he has since...

, who resigned facing sexual assault

Sexual assault

Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....

 charges (of which he was subsequently acquitted

Acquittal

In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...

).

Singh's immediate task was to fight the parliamentary election

Fiji election of 2006

The Constitution of Fiji requires general elections for the House of Representatives to be held at least once every five years. The latest election was held on 6-13 May 2006. Acting President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi issued a proclamation on 2 March, effective from 27 March, dissolving Parliament...

, held on 6–13 May 2006, with the hope of regaining representation for the NFP, which it lost in the 1999 election

Fiji election of 1999

General elections were held in Fiji between 8 and 15 May 1999. They were the first election held under the revised Constitution of 1997, which instituted a new electoral system and resulted in Mahendra Chaudhry taking office as Fiji's first Indo-Fijian Prime Minister.-Electoral system:Previously,...

. The attempt was a failure, with the party dropping to just 6 percent of the vote, its lowest ever.