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.
Brigadier-General RatuEpeli Nailatikau,is a Fijian chief who was President of Fiji from 2009 to 2015. He has had a long career in the Military,diplomatic service,and government. From 2001 to 2006 he served as Speaker of the House of Representatives –the lower and more powerful chamber of the Fijian Parliament. He was also the chairman of the Parliamentary Appropriations Committee and of the House Committee. On 8 January 2007,he was appointed the interim Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade;he was moved to the post of interim Minister for Provincial Development and Multi-Ethnic Affairs in September 2008. In October 2008,he became Indigenous Affairs Minister "and effectively Great Council of Chiefs chairman". On 17 April 2009,he was appointed Vice-President by the military government.
The Great Council of Chiefs is a Fijian constitutional body. It previously existed from 1876 to March 2012 and was re-established in May 2023.
Brigadier-General RatuEpeli Ganilau,MC,MSD,was a Fijian military officer and politician. His career previously encompassed such roles as Commander of the Fiji Military Forces and Chairman of the Bose Levu Vakaturaga. On 15 January 2007 he was sworn in as Minister for Fijian Affairs in the interim Cabinet formed in the wake of the 2006 Fijian coup d'état which deposed the Qarase government on 5 December 2006.
Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka is a Fijian politician,former soldier and former sportsman who has served 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.
Josaia Voreqe "Frank" Bainimarama is a Fijian politician and former naval officer who served as the prime minister of Fiji from 2007 until 2022. A member of the FijiFirst party,which he founded in 2014,he began his career as an officer in the Fijian navy and commander of the Fijian military. Despite being suspended from Parliament,he served as the opposition leader from 24 December 2022 until 8 March 2023,when he resigned and was replaced by Inia Seruiratu.
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.
RatuNaiqama Tawake Lalabalavu MBE is a Fijian Paramount Chief and the current speaker of the parliament. He had served as the leader of the opposition.
The Fijian Association Party (FAP) is a former political party in Fiji. It played a significant role in Fijian politics throughout the 1990s but lost all of its seats in the House of Representatives in the parliamentary election of 2001.
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.
RoTeimumu Vuikaba Kepa is a Fijian chief,former Member of the Parliament of Fiji,and former leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party. She was the first Fijian woman to serve as Leader of the Opposition. She previously held the position of Deputy Prime Minister in the Qarase-led Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) government from 2001 to 2006. As the paramount chief of the Burebasaga Confederacy,she holds the title Roko Tui Dreketi.
Since attaining independence from the United Kingdom on 10 October 1970,Fijian history has been marked by exponential economic growth up to 1987,followed by relative stagnation,caused to a large extent by political instability following two military coups in 1987 and a civilian putsch in 2000. This was followed by another military coup in 2006. Rivalry between indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians,rather than ideological differences,have been the most visible cleavage of Fijian politics. Later in 2020,Fiji was hit by the global COVID-19 pandemic,which affected the economy and the daily lives of the people.
Dr. Ahmed Ali was a Fijian academic and politician who held Cabinet office several times from the late 1970s onwards. Unlike the majority of his fellow Indo-Fijians,he was aligned with the Alliance Party of Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara in the 1970s and 1980s,and with the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua Party of Laisenia Qarase in the early 2000s. He was one of only two Indo-Fijians to agree to serve in the interim government established in the wake of two military coups carried out to assert indigenous political supremacy in 1987.
The Reconciliation and Unity Commission was a proposed government body to be set up if the Reconciliation,Tolerance,and Unity Bill, which was introduced into the Fijian Parliament on 4 May 2005 was passed. The legislation proposed to empower the commission to grant amnesty to perpetrators of the Fiji coup of 2000,and compensation to victims of it from 19 May 2000 through 15 March 2001. The Fijian President would retain a veto over the granting of amnesty.
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.
The crisis that saw a virtual breakdown in relations between Fiji's government and military forces in late 2005 and early 2006,generated fears of civil unrest and even a military coup. The dismissing of Lieutenant Colonel Jone Baledrokadroka,the Acting Land Force Commander,for alleged insubordination on 12 January 2006 was coupled with unusual deployments of troops and naval vessels. Both before and after it was resolved on 16 January with a truce brokered by Acting President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi,the crisis generated a great deal of comment.
Queen Victoria School (QVS) is a school in Fiji. It was established in 1906 in Nasinu to provide education to the sons of Fijian Chiefs. It later moved to Nanukuloa in Ra when World War II broke out;then the school was moved to Lodoni where the two schools QVS and RKS operated side by side before eventually moving to its current site at Matavatucou,Tailevu. It then accepted students from Fijian villages based on their results in a secondary entrance examination.
