Mahendra Pal Chaudhry is a Fijian politician and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party. Following a historic election in which he defeated the long-time former leader,Sitiveni Rabuka,the former trade union leader became Fiji's first Indo-Fijian Prime Minister on 19 May 1999,but exactly one year later,on 19 May 2000 he and most of his Cabinet were taken hostage by coup leader George Speight,in the Fiji coup of 2000. Unable to exercise his duties,he and his ministers were sacked by President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara on 27 May;Mara intended to assume emergency powers himself but was himself deposed by the military leader,Commodore Frank Bainimarama.
The prime minister of Fiji is the head of government of the Republic of Fiji. The prime minister is appointed under the terms of the 2013 Constitution. The prime minister is the head of the Cabinet and appoints and dismisses ministers.
Brigadier-General Ratu Epeli 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.
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.
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.
Ratu Tevita Momoedonu was a Fijian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Fiji twice –each time extremely briefly. Both appointments were to get around constitutional technicalities;his first term of office –on 27 May 2000 lasted only a few minutes. His second term –from 14 to 16 March 2001 was for two days. He subsequently served his country as Ambassador of Fiji to Japan. Using his chiefly title of "Taukei Sawaieke",he later led pushed for the Yasana of Ba to secede from the Burebasaga and Kubuna Confederacies to form their own fourth confederacy under the Tui Vuda,Ratu Josefa Iloilo,who died in 2011.
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 Fiji coup d'état of 2000 was a civilian coup d'état by hardline i-Taukei nationalists against the elected government of an Indo-Fijian Prime Minister,Mahendra Chaudhry on 19 May 2000. This was followed by an attempt on 27 May by President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara to assert executive authority,and then by a military coup on 29 May by Republic of Fiji Military Forces Commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama. The coups resulted in the removal of the elected government and its replacement by an interim regime headed by Josefa Iloilo. In March 2001 the Court of Appeal of Fiji ruled that the coups and interim regime were illegal. An elected government was finally restored by the 2001 Fijian general election.
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.
Poseci Waqalevu Bune was a Fijian civil servant,diplomat,politician and Cabinet Minister. He served as chair of the Public Service Commissioner,secretary to the Prime Minister,and as Fiji's permanent representative to the United Nations,as well as a Cabinet Minister in the governments of Mahendra Chaudhry and Laisenia Qarase,and in the military regime of Frank Bainimarama. Bune died of prostate cancer on 22 November 2023,at the age of 77.
Simione Kaitani is a former Fijian politician and Cabinet Minister in the government of Laisenia Qarase. He was tried for taking an illegal oath over the 2000 Fijian coup d'état in 2005,but acquitted. He later served as Leader of the House,until removed from office by the 2006 Fijian coup d'état.
Adi Asenaca Coboiverata Caucau,generally known simply as Adi Asenaca Caucau,is a Fijian politician. She served as Minister For Women and Minister for Social Welfare and Poverty Alleviation from 2001 to 2006,when she became Minister of State for Housing. She held this post,and continued to represent the Tailevu South Lomaiviti Open Constituency in the House of Representatives until 5 December 2006,when the Military of Fiji staged a coup d'état and removed her government from office. She had first won the seat for the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua Party (SDL) in the parliamentary election of September 2001.
Samisoni Tikoinasau Speight,also known as Sam Speight Jr is a Fijian politician,who held Cabinet office as Minister of State for Public Utilities and Reforms,to which he was appointed after the 2006 election. Previously,he was Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources from 2005 to 2006. Like many ethnic Fijians,he rarely uses his surname.
Fiji–India relations are the foreign relations between Fiji and India. Fiji has a high commission in New Delhi,whilst India has a high commission in Suva.
Pita Kewa Nacuva is a Fijian politician and former Fiji rugby union international. He 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.
Tomasi Namua Sauqaqa is a former Fijian politician.
Mitieli Bulanauca is a Fijian politician and former Cabinet Minister. He is currently a member of the People's Alliance.
Dr Gunasagaran Gounder is a Fiji Indian medical doctor who,as a Fiji Labour Party candidate,defeated the Leader of Opposition,Jai Ram Reddy of the National Federation Party,in the contest for the Yasawa Nawaka Open Constituency seat in the 1999 general election. He was subsequently appointed Assistant Minister for Health in the Peoples Coalition Government led by Mahendra Chaudhry from 1999 to 2000.
The Republic of the Fiji Islands was the first Pacific Island country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China,in 1975. China established an embassy in Fiji in 1976,and Fiji opened its embassy in China in 2001.
