In the parliamentary election of 1999, the FAP joined with Chaudhry's FLP as part of the People's Coalition, an electoral alliance which also included a number of smaller parties. The FLP, supported mostly by Indo-Fijians, sought partnerships with parties led by ethnic Fijians in order to broaden its support base. The FAP won ten seats in the 71-member House of Representatives, its best result ever. The FAP initially proposed Speed for Prime Minister, saying that she would be more acceptable to indigenous Fijians than Chaudhry. President Mara, however, persuaded her to accept Chaudhry as Prime Minister, pointing out that the FLP had won a majority - 37 seats - in its own right. Towards the end of 1999, Speed survived a challenge to her leadership of the FAP in a divisive High Court case, which resulted in backbencherRatu Tu'uakitau Cokanauto and his supporters splitting from the party.
The government of which the FAP was a part was deposed in the Fiji coup of 2000, instigated by George Speight. An election to restore democracy was held in 2001, but by this time many of its members had left to join the new Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua of Laisenia Qarase. The FAP contested only 15 seats, on a platform of alleviating poverty through income-generating projects, reducing health costs and increasing education assistance for poor families, promoting indigenous Fijian culture, and increasing the participation rate of women at all levels of decision making. The party also attempted to make inroads into the Indo-Fijian electorate, accusing the United Fiji Party of promoting racism. The electorate was polarized to an extent not seen for more than a decade, however, with ethnic Fijians rallying behind the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua and its ally, the Conservative Alliance, and Indo-Fijians behind the FLP. All FAP candidates, including Speed, were defeated.
The politics of Fiji take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic. Fiji has a multiparty system with the Prime Minister of Fiji as head of government. The executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament of Fiji. The judiciary is mostly independent of the executive and the legislature.
The United Fiji Party was a political party in Fiji. It was founded in 2001 by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase as a power base; it absorbed most of the Christian Democratic Alliance and other conservative groups, and its endorsement by the Great Council of Chiefs (Bose Levu Vakaturaga) caused it to be widely seen as the successor to the Alliance Party, the former ruling party that had dominated Fijian politics from the 1960s to the 1980s. It drew its support mainly from indigenous Fijiians.
Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka is a Fijian politician, sportsman, and former soldier who has been serving as Prime Minister of Fiji since 24 December 2022. He was the instigator of two military coups in 1987. He was democratically elected as Prime Minister of Fiji, serving from 1992 to 1999, and again in 2022, leading a three-party coalition. He also served as Chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs from 1999 to 2001, and later as Chairman of the Cakaudrove Provincial Council from 2001 to 2008.
AdiKuini Teimumu Vuikaba Speed was a Fijian chief and politician, who served as Deputy Prime Minister from May 1999 to May 2000.
General elections were held in Fiji between 18 and 25 February 1994. This election, the second since Fiji had become a republic following two military coups in 1987, was brought about by splits within the ruling Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT) and by the withdrawal of the support of the Fiji Labour Party, which claimed that Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka had reneged on a deal to review Fiji's electoral system, which was heavily weighted in favour of ethnic Fijians, despite their being nearly equal in number to Indo-Fijians.
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, following a landslide victory for the Fiji Labour Party. It was also a wipeout loss for the incumbent Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT) government of Sitiveni Rabuka, which lost all but eight seats and won less seats than the Fijian Association Party (FAP).
General elections were held in Fiji in August and September 2001. The Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua party won 18 of the 23 seats reserved for ethnic Fijians and one of three "general electorates" set aside for Fiji's European, Chinese, and other minorities. It also won 13 of the 25 "open electorates," so-called because they are open to candidates of any race and are elected by universal suffrage. The remaining five ethnic Fijian seats, and one open electorate, were won by the Conservative Alliance, one of whom was George Speight who had led the putsch against the lawful government the year before. Chaudhry's Labour Party won all 19 Indo-Fijian seats and eight open electorates. The New Labour Unity Party, formed by defectors from the FLP, won one general electorate and one open electorate. The three remaining seats were won by minor parties and independent candidates.
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. Though it claims to represent all Fiji Islanders, it is supported, in practice, almost exclusively by Indo-Fijians whose ancestors had come to Fiji between 1879 and 1916, mostly as indentured labourers. However, in the 2018 general election, the party recorded a considerable change in its support base due to the inclusion of more indigenous Fijian candidates.
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.
The National Alliance Party of Fiji (NAPF) was a Fijian political party. It was formally registered on 18 January 2005 by Ratu Epeli Ganilau, as the claimed successor to the defunct Alliance Party, which ruled Fiji from 1967 to 1987 under the leadership of the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, Ganilau's father-in-law. Others involved with the party included university lecturer Meli Waqa as party secretary, and Manu Korovulavula as treasurer. The Deputy Leader was Hirdesh Sharma. The party was launched publicly at a mass rally in Suva on 8 April 2005.
The Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT), occasionally known in English as Fijian Political Party, was a party which dominated the politics of Fiji in the 1990s and was the mainstay of coalition governments from 1992 to 1999.
The Fiji Democratic Party was a political party in Fiji. It was active between June 2002 and April 2005.
The Christian Democratic Alliance, better known locally by its Fijian name, Veitokani ni Lewenivanua Vakarisito (VLV), was a Fijian political party that operated in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
RatuCokanauto Tu'uakitau was a Fijian chief and politician. He was the scion of a distinguished family, as a son of Ratu Sir Edward Cakobau, and brother of Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, who had served as President of Fiji from 2009 to 2015.
General elections were held in Fiji between 6 and 13 May 2006.
Ted Young is a Fijian politician, who served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase from 2001 to 2006. He was Minister for Regional Development from 2001 to 2006, when he became Minister of State for Provincial Development. He represented the Lomaivuna Namosi Kadavu Open Constituency, which he won on the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) ticket in the general election of September 2001, defeating Samuela Nawalowalo of the Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT). He had previously sought to win the seat at the 1999 election, for the Fijian Association Party (FAP), but was defeated by Konisi Yabaki of the Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT)..
Cakaudrove is one of fourteen provinces of Fiji, and one of three based principally on the northern island of Vanua Levu, occupying the south-eastern third of the island and including the nearby islands of Taveuni, Rabi, Kioa, and numerous other islands in the Vanua Levu Group. It has a total land area of 2,816 square kilometers, with a population of 50,469 at the most recent census in 2017, making it the seventh most populous province. The only major town is Savusavu, with a population of 3,372 in 2007.
Isireli Leweniqila is a former Fijian politician, who served in the Cabinet as Minister for Information and Communications.
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