Minister for Foreign Affairs (Fiji)

Last updated

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Fiji
Sitiveni Rabuka 2020.jpg
Incumbent
Sitiveni Rabuka
since 24 December 2022
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
Status Foreign minister
Member of Cabinet of Fiji
Seat Government Buildings
Nominator Prime Minister of Fiji
Appointer President of Fiji
Term length No term limit
Inaugural holder Kamisese Mara
Formation10 October 1970;53 years ago (1970-10-10)
SalaryFJ$130,000 annually [1]
Website www.foreignaffairs.gov.fj

The Minister for Foreign Affairs (commonly known as the Foreign Minister) is a cabinet minister responsible for foreign relations and diplomacy of Fiji, and oversees its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Especially since two military coups in 1987 harmed Fiji's relationship with other countries, with two more coups in 2000 and 2006 respectively, the Foreign Minister's position has been a very important one.

Contents

Description of the office

Like other ministers, the Foreign Minister is formally appointed by the President on the nomination of the Prime Minister, and is responsible to both the Prime Minister and the Parliament. The position may be held independently, or in conjunction with other ministerial responsibilities. From time to time, the Prime Minister has simultaneously served as Foreign Minister.

Along with all ministers, the Foreign Minister is constitutionally required to be a member of the Parliament.

List of ministers

Political parties
   Alliance Party
   Fiji Labour Party
   Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei
   Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua
   FijiFirst
   People's Alliance
Other factions
   Military
   Independent
Symbols
  Denotes acting Minister

The following is a list of foreign ministers of Fiji since the country gained independence in 1970: [2] [3]

No.Name
(Birth–Death)
PortraitTenure
1 Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara
(1920–2004)
Kamisese Mara.jpg 1970–1982
2 Mosese Qionibaravi
(1938–1987)
No image.png 1982–1983
3 Jonati Mavoa
(1922–1985)
No image.png 1983–1985
4 Semesa Sikivou
(1917–1990)
No image.png 1985–1986
(1) Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara
(1920–2004)
Kamisese Mara.jpg 1986–1987
5 Krishna Datt
(born 1944)
Krishna Datt, April 1988 (cropped).jpg 1987 [lower-alpha 1]
(1) Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara
(1920–2004)
Kamisese Mara.jpg 1987
6 Filipe Bole
(1936–2019)
Filipe Bole (cropped).jpg 1987–1988
(1) Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara
(1920–2004)
Kamisese Mara.jpg 1988–1992
(6) Filipe Bole
(1936–2019)
Filipe Bole (cropped).jpg 1992–1994
7 Major-General (Rtd)
Sitiveni Rabuka
(born 1948)
Sitiveni Rabuka 2020.jpg 1994
(6) Filipe Bole
(1936–2019)
Filipe Bole (cropped).jpg 1994–1997
8 Berenado Vunibobo
(1932–2015)
Berenado Vunibobo.jpg 1997–1999
9 Tupeni Baba
(1942–2024)
Tupeni Baba 2022.jpg 1999–2000 [lower-alpha 2]
10 Kaliopate Tavola
(born 1946)
Kaliopate Tavola (cropped).jpg 2000–2006 [lower-alpha 3]
Isikeli Mataitoga
Acting
Isikeli Mataitoga.jpeg 2006–2007
11 Brigadier-General (Rtd)
Ratu Epeli Nailatikau
(born 1941)
Epeli Nailatikau 2012.jpg 2007–2008
12 Commodore
Frank Bainimarama
(born 1954)
Bainimarama 2014.jpg 2008–2009
(12)2009
13 Ratu Inoke Kubuabola
(born 1948)
Ratu Inoke Kubuabola (cropped).jpg 2009–2016
(13)
(12) Rear Admiral (Rtd)
Frank Bainimarama
(born 1954)
Frank Bainimarama November 2014.jpg 2016–2019
14 Inia Seruiratu Inia Seruiratu - 2019 (48403437787) (cropped).jpg 2019–2020
(12) Rear Admiral (Rtd)
Frank Bainimarama
(born 1954)
Frank Bainimarama November 2014.jpg 2020–2022
(7) Major-General (Rtd)
Sitiveni Rabuka
(born 1948)
Sitiveni Rabuka 2020.jpg 2022–present

Notes

  1. Deposed in the May 1987 coup d'état.
  2. Deposed in the 2000 coup d'état.
  3. Deposed in the 2006 coup d'état.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Fiji</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua</span> Political party in Fiji

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prime Minister of Fiji</span> Head of the government of Fiji

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sitiveni Rabuka</span> Prime Minister of Fiji from 1992 to 1999 and since 2022

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tupeni Baba</span> Fijian academic and politician (1942–2024)

Tupeni Lebaivalu Baba was 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1999 Fijian general election</span>

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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Federation Party</span> Political party in Fiji

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inoke Kubuabola</span> Fijian politician and Cabinet Minister

RatuInoke Matavasona Kububuabola is a Fijian politician and Cabinet Minister. He is the former leader of the opposition and Minister for Foreign Affairs. Since 11 August 2022, he has been a High Commissioner to New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filipe Bole</span> Fijian politician (1936–2019)

Filipe Nagera Bole CBE, CF was a Fijian politician who hailed from the village of Mualevu on the island of Vanua Balavu in the Lau Group. He had a reputation as one of Fiji's few politicians untainted by scandal, and was noted for his moderate views. In October 2003, he endorsed calls for an end to racially segregated voting, saying that electing all members of the House of Representatives by universal suffrage would make voters and politicians think of the common national good, rather than communal interests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naiqama Lalabalavu</span> Speaker of the Parliament

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fijian Association Party</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei</span>

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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Democratic Alliance (Fiji)</span> Political party in Fiji

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.

The Tui Cakau is the Paramount Chief of Cakaudrove Province in Fiji.

Qoriniasi Babitu Bale was a barrister, a solicitor and a politician who served twice as Fiji's Minister for Justice and Attorney-General, most recently from 2001 to 2006, when he was deposed in the military coup of 5 December. Like many of Fiji's most influential leaders, Bale was a native of Levukana Village in Vanua Balavu in the Lau Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaliopate Tavola</span>

Kaliopate Tavola is a Fijian Agricultural economist, diplomat, and politician, who was his country's Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2000 to 2006. He was also Minister for External Trade and Minister for Sugar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reaction to the 2005–2006 Fijian political crisis</span>

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.

References

  1. Government of Fiji Gazette (3 October 2014). "PARLIAMENTARY REMUNERATIONS DECREE 2014 (DECREE NO. 29 OF 2014)" (PDF). www.parliament.gov.fj.
  2. "History". Archived from the original on 22 July 2020.
  3. "Foreign ministers E-K". rulers.org. B. Schemmel. Retrieved 12 March 2015.