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| History of Fiji |
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| Early history |
| Modern history |
| Coup of 2000 |
| Proposed Reconciliation Commission |
| Crisis of 2005–2006 |
| Coup of 2006 |
The mutiny that took place at Fiji's Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Suva on 2 November 2000 resulted in the death of four loyal soldiers. Four of the rebels were subsequently beaten to death after the rebellion had been quelled.
| Coup and aftermath | |
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| Related articles | |
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Tupeni Lebaivalu Baba is a Fijian academic, politician, and former Cabinet Minister. A founding member of the Fiji Labour Party, he served as a Cabinet Minister in the government of Timoci Bavadra until removed from office by the 1987 Fijian coups d'état, and then one of the two Deputy Prime Ministers in the government of Mahendra Chaudhry until removed from office by the 2000 Fijian coup d'état. After splitting with Choudhry in the wake of the coup, he founded the New Labour Unity Party to contest the 2001 election, but failed to win a seat in Parliament. He unsuccessfully attempting to re-enter politics at the 2006 election under the banner of the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua, and again at the 2014 election as part of the Social Democratic Liberal Party.
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The Conservative Alliance was a right-wing political party in Fiji, and a member of the ruling coalition government. It was commonly known as the CAMV, a combination of the initials of its English and Fijian names. At its annual general meeting on 17 February 2006, the party voted to dissolve itself and merge with its coalition partner, the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL). The President of the party at the time of its dissolution was Ratu Tanoa Cakobau, a Bauan chief, while Ratu Josefa Dimuri served as General Secretary. For legal reasons, Parliamentary members of the disbanded party maintained a separate caucus in the House of Representatives, under the leadership of Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, until the end of the parliamentary term, on 27 March 2006.
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A number of separate, but overlapping, investigations were conducted by the police into various aspects of the 2000 coup. These investigations include the organization and financing of the coup, and the identity of the perpetrators.
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Fiji's President, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara resigned under duress on May 29, 2000, and handed power over to Commodore Frank Bainimarama. In what politicians have called a "coup within a coup," Ratu Mara was whisked away on a warship on May 28, where he was allegedly approached by a group of present and former military and police officers who ordered him to suspend the Constitution. When he refused, the group, including Bainimarama, former Prime Minister and 1987 Coup Leader Sitiveni Rabuka, former military commander Ratu Epeli Ganilau, and former Police Commissioner Isikia Savua, are said to have forced Mara's resignation. He was subsequently taken to his home island in the Lau Islands.
Hinduism is the second-largest religion in Fiji, and primarily has a following among Indo-Fijians, the descendants of indentured workers brought to Fiji by the British as cheap labour for colonial sugarcane plantations. Hindus started arriving in Fiji starting in 1879 and continuing through 1920, when Britain abolished the slavery-like indenture system. Fiji identifies people as "Indo-Fijians" if they can trace their ancestry to the Indian subcontinent, Hindus form about 27.9% the population of Fiji.
The Fijian coup d'état of December 2006 was a coup d'état in Fiji carried out by Commodore Frank Bainimarama, Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF), against Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase and President Josefa Iloilo. It was the culmination of a political crisis that started the previous year, when the Qarase government introduced three bills to the Fijian Parliament. The Qoliqoli, Land Tribunal, and Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bills dealt with the ongoing ethnic conflicts in Fiji and the aftermath of the 2000 coup, and were considered to be pro-ethnic Fijian. Bainimarama presented the government with a list of demands on October 16 that included withdrawing the bills. Attempts at negotiation failed and the military launched the coup on 4 December. Parliament was dissolved, Qarase and his cabinet were dismissed, and some civilian officials were placed under house arrest. After the Great Council of Chiefs refused to appoint a cabinet friendly to the military, Bainimarama reached an understanding with Iloilo and reinstated him as President on 4 January 2007. Iloilo then appointed Bainimarama acting Prime Minister in charge of the Interim Cabinet.
Indo-Fijians, also known as Indian Fijians, are Fijian citizens of Indian descent, and include people who trace their ancestry to various regions of India and the Indian subcontinent. Although Indo-Fijians constituted a majority of Fiji's population from 1956 through the late 1980s, discrimination and the resulting brain drain resulted in them numbering 313,798 (37.6%) out of a total of 827,900 people living in Fiji as of 2007.
Ratu Rakuita Saurara Vakalalabure is a Fijian lawyer and former politician who served as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of Fiji from 2001 to 2004. In August 2004 he was convicted of participation in the 2000 Fijian coup d'état and sentenced to six years' imprisonment. He was the son of Ratu Tevita Vakalalabure, who served in both houses of Parliament from the 1970s to the 1990s.
Fiji's fourth constitution, the 2013 Constitution of Fiji, was signed into law by President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau on 6 September 2013, coming into effect immediately. It is the first to eliminate race-based electoral rolls, race-based seat quotas, district-based representation, the unelected upper chamber, and the role of the hereditary Council of Chiefs. It vests sole legislative authority in a single-chamber, 50-seat, at-large Parliament, to be first convened following general elections in 2014. It is also the first ever to grant the right to multiple citizenship, and lowers the voting age to 18.
