GOVERNMENT
Under the Fiji constitution, the president (head of state) is appointed for a 5-year term by the Great Council of Chiefs, a traditional ethnic Fijian leadership body. The president in turn appoints the prime minister (head of government) and cabinet from among the members of Parliament. The prime minister must have the support of the House of Representatives in order for his government to enact legislation. Both houses of the legislature have some seats reserved by ethnicity. Other seats can be filled by persons of any ethnic group. The House of Representatives is elected; the Senate is appointed. Since the December 2006 coup, the self-appointed interim government has ruled by decree.
Fiji maintains a judiciary consisting of a Supreme Court, a Court of Appeals, a High Court, and magistrate courts. All but one of the five judges on the Supreme Court also is a serving judge in Australia or New Zealand. Since the 2006 coup, a number of High Court and Court of Appeals justices have resigned, claiming interference in judicial affairs.
There are four administrative divisions--central, eastern, northern, and western--each under the charge of a divisional commissioner. Ethnic Fijians have their own administration in which councils preside over a hierarchy of provinces, districts, and villages. The 14 provincial councils deal with all matters affecting ethnic Fijians. There is also a Rotuma Island Council for the island of Rotuma.
The Great Council of Chiefs (Bose Levu Vakaturaga) is made up of 55 hereditary chiefs, most of whom are nominated to the Council by their respective provincial councils. It is established under the Fijian Affairs Act and recognized by the constitution. The interim government promulgated regulations in February 2008 concerning membership in the Great Council of Chiefs that are being challenged in Fiji's courts.
POLITICAL
CONDITIONS
For 17 years after independence, Fiji was a parliamentary democracy. During that time, political life was dominated by Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara and the Alliance Party, which combined the traditional Fijian chiefly system with leading elements of the European, part-European, and Indian communities. The main parliamentary opposition, the National Federation Party, represented mainly rural Indo-Fijians. Intercommunal relations were managed without serious confrontation. However, when a cabinet with substantial ethnic Indian representation was installed after the April 1987 election, extremist elements played on ethnic Fijian fears of domination by the Indo-Fijian community, resulting in a military coup d'etat.
This began what many now refer to as the "coup cycle." The most recent coup took place in December 2006, but has its roots in the previous 2000 coup and mutiny. Military commander Commodore Bainimarama helped resolve the 2000 crisis by imposing martial law. Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase led the interim government that followed. Subsequently, Qarase was elected in 2001 and 2006, but pursued some policies favoring the indigenous Fijian community.
One of the main issues of contention is land tenure. Indigenous Fijian communities very closely identify themselves with their land. In 1909 the land ownership pattern was frozen by the British and further sales prohibited. Today, 87% of the land is held by indigenous Fijians, under the collective ownership of the traditional Fijian clans (mataqali). That land cannot be sold and is held in trust by the Native Land Trust Board on behalf of the landowning units. Indo-Fijians produce more than 75% of the sugar crop but, in most cases, must lease the land they work from its ethnic Fijian owners instead of being able to buy it outright.
In 2005 and 2006, tensions rose between Bainimarama and Qarase over legislation proposed by the Qarase government concerning land ownership, traditional non-public ownership of the foreshore, and a reconciliation bill that opened the possibility to grant immunity to some coup participants from 2000. Bainimarama began to make demands and threats, and engaged in shows of military force to intimidate the Qarase government into backing away from the controversial policies. When the Qarase government did not accede to all military demands, on December 5, 2006, Bainimarama assumed the powers of the presidency, dismissed Parliament, and declared a temporary military government.
Commodore Bainimarama's interim government has pursued what he terms a "clean-up campaign" to root out what he considers to be large-scale corruption in Fiji. A number of civil servants, including the Chief Justice, were summarily suspended or dismissed due to unidentified corruption concerns. Many individuals who spoke out against the coup were taken to military camps where they were questioned and sometimes abused.
Principal
Government Officials
Head of State (President)--Josefa Iloilo
Interim Head of Government--Commodore Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama
Interim Minister of Foreign Affairs--Ratu Epeli Nailatikau
Ambassador to the United States--vacant
Permanent Representative to the United Nations--vacant
Fiji
maintains an embassy
at Suite 240, 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 (tel:
202-337-8320).
Type: Parliamentary democracy (overthrown by military coup in December 2006).
Independence (from U.K.): October 10, 1970.
Constitution: July 1997 (suspended May 2000, reaffirmed March 2001).
Branches: Executive--president (head of state), prime minister (head of government), cabinet. Legislative--bicameral parliament; upper house is appointed, lower house is elected. Judicial--Supreme Court and supporting hierarchy.
Major political parties: Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL), Fiji Labor Party (FLP), United People's Party (UPP), National Federation Party (NFP), National Alliance Party (NAP), Nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo Party (NVTLP).
