REPUBLIC OF THE FIJI ISLANDS

• Official name: Republic of the Fiji Islands
• Location: Pacific Ocean
• International organisations: African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, Commonwealth of Nations, Pacific Islands Forum, United Nations, World Trade Organisation
• Borders: None
• Coastline: Pacific Ocean
• Land area: 18,270 Km2
• Population: 850,000
• Annual GDP (PPP) per capita: US$3,900 (2009 CIA estimate). World ranking: 128
• Ethnicity: Melanesian and Polynesian Fijians 54%, Indian 38%, others (Pacific Islanders, Chinese, European) 9%
• Language: English, Fijian and Hindi are official languages. English is the language of government, business and the media. The indigenous population speak Fijian, while the Indian community speaks Hindi and other Indian languages.
• Religion: Most ethnic Fijians are Protestant Christians (Methodists are the largest denomination), while the Indians are either Hindu (28%), Sunni Moslem (4%) or Shia Moslem (2%).
• Form of government: Military dictatorship. Fiji is divided into four divisions and one dependency.
• Capital: Suva
• Constitution: The Constitution of the Fiji Islands came into effect on 25 July 1990. The constitution was suspended in 2006 and was formally abrogated in 2009.
• Head of state: Under the 1990 Constitution the President was chosen by the Great Council of Chiefs, a body representing the traditional leaders of the ethnic Fijians, for a five-year term. Epeli Nailatikau, an army officer, was unconstitutionally appointed by the military regime on 30 July 2009.
• Head of government: Under the 1990 Constitution the Prime Minister was appointed by the President, and was the leader of the largest party or coalition of parties in the legislature. The current Prime Minister is the leader of the military regime and holds office unconstitutionally.
• Legislature: Under the 1990 Constitution Fiji had a bicameral legislature, the Parliament of Fiji. Parliament has not sat since 2006 and was formally abolished along with the Constitution in 2009.
• Electoral authority: None functioning.
• Freedom House 2009 rating: Political Rights 6, Civil Liberties 4

Political history

The Fijians, a Melanesian people, settled the Fijian islands about 2,000 years ago. The islands were discovered by Abel Tasman in 1643 and claimed for Britain by James Cook in 1774. Informal European settlement began in the 1840s, and in 1874 the Fijian chiefs sought British protection against the depredations of the settlers. Under the treaty of annexation the Fijian land tenure system and the authority of the chiefs was protected. Since the European settlers could not obtain Fijian labour for the sugar plantations which had become the islands' economic mainstay, they imported workers from India, who soon made up nearly half the population.

Fiji became independent in October 1970. The ethnic Fijians feared Indian economic domination, but so long as the Fijians voted as a bloc the Indians were excluded from political power. The Fijian-dominated Alliance Party ruled until April 1987, when a new Fiji Labour Party split the Fijian vote. This allowed the Labour leader, Dr Timoci Bavandra, to become Prime Minister with the support of the Indian-dominated National Federation Party. This angered Fijian nationalists, and Col Sitiveni Rambuka seized power in a coup in May.

Rambuka ruled until 1990, when he allowed the resumption of parliamentary government under a constitution which guaranteed that the ethnic Fijians would always control the government. In 1998, however, this provision was liberalised. As a result, Labour won the 1999 elections in alliance with minor Fijian parties and an Indian-Fijian, Mahendra Chaudhry, became Prime Minister. This provoked a group of armed extremist Fijians led by George Speight to take the Parliament hostage in May 2000. After a prolonged standoff Speight was arrested, but in the meantime the President had dismissed Chaudhury and, after a period of interim government, called fresh elections, which were won by the conservative ethnic Fijian United Fiji Party (Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua, SDL), led by Laisenia Qarase. The SDL again won elections in May 2006.

Qarase's government wanted to pardon some of those involved in the 2000 coup, but this was unacceptable to the military. In December 2006 they seized power again, deposing Qarase and making Frank Bainimarama, a naval officer, Prime Minister. The then President, Josefa Iloilo, acquiesced in this, but when in April 2009 the Fijian courts ruled that the 2006 takeover was illegal, Bainimarama abrogated the Constitution and has ruled as a military dictator since.

Freedom House's 2009 report on Fiji (which was written before Bainimarama's 2009 seizure of power) says: "Fiji is not an electoral democracy, due primarily to the latest [2006] military coup... Official corruption and abuses are widespread. Repeated government reform pledges have not produced significant results, and some corruption charges may have been politically motivated... The government has considerable legal authority to restrict the media. The Television Act allows the government to control content, and the Press Correction Act authorises the arrest of anyone who publishes "malicious" material. Nevertheless, Fiji's vibrant media persist in the face of lawsuits, arrests, and intimidation by the authorities... The judiciary is independent [since 2009 no longer the case], and trials are generally free and fair, but a lack of resources and trained professionals has created a severe backlog for court hearings."

Updated February 2010