Sidiq Koya

Siddiq Moidin Koya
Member of Legislative Council
In office 1963–1972
Member of House of Representatives
In office 1972–1977
Succeeded by	Jai Ram Reddy
In office 1982–1987
Leader of the Opposition
In office 1969–1977
Preceded by	A.D. Patel
Succeeded by	Harish Sharma
Personal details
Born	1924 Ba, Fiji
Died	1993 (aged 68–69) Lautoka, Fiji
Political party	National Federation Party
Children	Faiyaz Koya
Profession	Lawyer

Siddiq Moidin Koya (29 February 1924 – 25 April 1993)^[1] was a Fijian politician, Statesman and Opposition leader. He succeeded to the leadership of the mostly Indo-Fijian National Federation Party (NFP) on the death of the party's founder, A. D. Patel, in October 1969, remaining in this post until 1977. He later served a second term as leader of the NFP, from 1984 to 1987.

Koya is credited with his role in paving the way for Fijian independence from Britain in 1970. The National Federation Party had been opposing plans for independence without significant changes to the constitution. The NFP, in particular, wanted a legislature to be elected by universal suffrage from a common electoral roll of all voters – a demand rejected by the main ethnic Fijian politicians, who wanted a communal franchise with parliamentary seats allocated among the different ethnic groups, elected from ethnic electoral rolls. Sidiq Koya was more willing to compromise than his predecessor, and he was instrumental in persuading his party and his people to accept independence with a communal franchise.