Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean about 1,100 nautical miles northeast of New Zealand's North Island. Its closest neighbours are Vanuatu to the west, New Caledonia to the southwest, New Zealand's Kermadec Islands to the southeast, Tonga to the east, the Samoas and France's Wallis and Futuna to the northeast, and Tuvalu to the north. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which 110 are permanently inhabited—and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of about 18,300 square kilometres (7,100 sq mi). The most outlying island is Ono-i-Lau. The two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, account for 87% of the total population of 898,760. The capital, Suva, on Viti Levu, serves as the country's principal cruise-ship port. About three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levu's coasts, either in Suva or in smaller urban centres such as Nadi—where tourism is the major local industry—or Lautoka, where the sugar-cane industry is paramount. Due to its terrain, the interior of Viti Levu is sparsely inhabited.
The Cabinet of Fiji is the Fijian Government's body of Ministers. It is appointed by the Prime Minister of Fiji and responsible to the Parliament of Fiji. The Cabinet's constitutional basis is sections 90 to 96 of the 2013 Constitution of Fiji.
Colonel is a senior military officer rank below the brigadier and general officer ranks. However, in some small military forces, such as those of Monaco or the Vatican, colonel is the highest rank. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
Ra Open is a former electoral division of Fiji, one of 25 open constituencies that were elected by universal suffrage. Established by the 1997 Constitution, it came into being in 1999 and was used for the parliamentary elections of 1999, 2001, and 2006. It is located in the northern part of the main island of Vanua Levu.
Open constituencies represent one of several electoral models employed in the past in the Fijian electoral system. They derived their name from the fact that they were "open": unlike the communal constituencies, the 25 members of the House of Representatives who represented open constituencies were elected by universal suffrage and were open to members of any ethnic group.
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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 draws its support mainly from indigenous Fijiians.
Nanise Nagusuca is a former Fijian politician, who was elected to the House of Representatives in a special election on December 11, 2004. The byelection for the North East Urban Fijian Communal constituency was held to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Filimone Banuve, the previous member. Like Banuve, Nagusuca was a member of the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL), the party of the Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase.
Josefa Bole Vosanibola is a Fijian politician, who served as Minister for Home Affairs from 16 December 2004, when he was appointed by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase to succeed Joketani Cokanasiga, to 5 December 2006, when his government was deposed in a military coup. Prior to his appointment as Home Affairs Minister, he had served as Minister for Information, and before that as Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation, following his election to represent the Tailevu North Ovalau Open Constituency, as a candidate of the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL), in the parliamentary election of 2001.
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.
Poseci Waqalevu Bune is a former Fijian politician, who has served as Deputy Leader of the Fiji Labour Party (FLP). From June to December 2006, he served as Minister for the Environment, one of nine FLP ministers, in the multiparty Cabinet of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. His ministerial career was terminated by the coup d'état that deposed the government on 5 December 2006, but on January 8, 2007, he was appointed as Minister for Public Service and Public Service Reform in the interim Cabinet of Commodore Frank Bainimarama.
Simione Kaitani is a former Fijian politician. He was previously a Cabinet Minister from 2001 to 2006, serving initially as Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation, and later as Information Minister. He resigned these portfolios in favour of Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu on 20 September 2005, but remained in the Cabinet as a Minister without portfolio. Following the general election of 2006, he was appointed Leader of the House, and as such was responsible for the conduct of government business in the House of Representatives. He remained in this position until the military coup that overthrew the government on 5 December 2006.
The Constitution of Fiji requires general elections for the House of Representatives to be held at least once every five years. The last election before Fiji's 2014 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. The previous parliamentary term had been due to expire on 1 October 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)..
Tomasi Vuetilovoni, commonly known as Tom Vuetilovoni, is a former Fijian politician, who was Minister for Tourism and Transport in 2006, following the parliamentary election held on 6–13 May that year. Previously, he served as Minister for Commerce, Business Development, and Investment from July 2000, when he joined the interim government that was formed in the wake of the failed Fiji coup of 2000. In the election held to restore democracy in September 2001, Vuetilovoni won the Ra Fijian Communal constituency for the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL), and retained his Cabinet post subsequently.
Pita Kewa Nacuva is a Fijian politician, who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from June to December 2006, when a military coup deposed the government and resulted in the dissolution of Parliament. Previously, he had served in the Cabinet as Minister for Tourism.
Konisi Tabu Yabaki was a Fijian politician from the southern Kadavu Island. He served in the Cabinet from 2000 to 2006, but lost his portfolios as Minister for Fisheries and Forests after the parliamentary election of 6–13 May 2006. He was subsequently appointed Chairman of the parliamentary committee on Social Services.
Ilaitia Bulidiri Tuisese is a former Fijian politician, who served in Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's Cabinet from 2000 to 2006.
Solomone Naivalu is a former Fijian politician, who served in Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's Cabinet as Minister for Health from 2001 to 2006. In the election held in September 2001, Naivalu won the Cunningham Open Constituency for the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL), and was subsequently appointed to the Cabinet. He retired from politics during the general election that was held from May 6 to May 13, 2006.
Pio Iowane Wong is a Fijian politician of Fijian and Chinese descent. He served in the Cabinet from 2004 to 2006 as Minister for Local Government, Housing, Squatter Settlement, and the Environment.
Mitieli Bulanauca is a Fijian politician, Member of the Parliament of Fiji, and former Cabinet Minister.
Joketani Cokanasiga is a former Fijian politician, who served as Minister for Public Works and Energy in the interim Cabinet formed by Laisenia Qarase in the wake of the Fiji coup of 2000. He held office till an elected government took power in September 2001.
Emasi Qovu is a former Fijian politician, served in the House of Representatives from 2001 to 2006. Whilst in Parliament he was appointed Government Whip in 2005-2006.
Manoa Dobui is a former Fijian politician, who won the Samabula Tamavua Open Constituency in the House of Representatives for the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) in the parliamentary election of 2001.
Rajesh Singh is a Fijian politician of Indian descent, who briefly held Cabinet office in mid-2006.
