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26-574: In the parliamentary election of 2001, the New Labour Unity Party called for the strengthening of the independence of the judiciary, which had been undermined by government defiance. It also advocated a reduction in Value Added Tax , and for its complete removal on essential items. A NLUP government would work to build a non-racialist Fiji in the ethic of "love thy brother," and would ban all forms of unfair discrimination. It also called for

52-562: A civilian coup d'état led by George Speight , and subsequently formed an Interim Military Government. A Supreme Court decision in November, however, reinstated the constitution, and new parliamentary elections under it were held in September 2001. On 5 December 2006, the Military again overthrew the government . Commodore Bainimarama, who once again became acting Head of State, stated that

78-621: A former Governor-General of New Zealand , as chairman. Fourteen months of consultations followed. The Commission finally presented its report, containing 697 recommendations, to the President on 6 September 1996. The report was subsequently tabled in Parliament , at a joint sitting of the Senate and the House of Representatives , on 11 September. A parliamentary committee, composed of members of both chambers,

104-490: A minority of the population ) proved very unpopular with the Indo-Fijian community, which comprised almost half the country's population, and in the mid 1990s the government agreed that it should be rewritten. In 1995, President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara appointed a three-member Constitutional Review Commission . The commissioners were Tomasi Vakatora , an ethnic Fijian, and Brij Lal , an Indo-Fijian, with Sir Paul Reeves ,

130-415: A parliamentary code of conduct to end corruption. The party won two of the 45 seats it contested, but Baba himself was defeated. During the campaign, the party had been hurt by revelations that it had received F$ 200,000 from Peter Foster , a controversial Australian businessman who had been convicted of fraud . Foster actually invested over $ 1 million in supporting New Labour and ran what was described as

156-561: A very slick and professional election campaign. Foster said he supported Dr Baba because he saw him as the "Nelson Mandela of the South Pacific." In the House of Representatives , the NLUP delegation split after the election. Kenneth Zinck joined the government benches and was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Labour, Industrial Relations, and Productivity, while Ofa Swann decided to join

182-491: Is Loraini Tulele . On 5 December 2003, Radio New Zealand reported that the NLUP had expelled Zinck from the party, following his refusal to quit his Cabinet portfolio and join the opposition, saying that his decision breached the party's 2001 election manifesto. Zinck had allegedly ignored several warnings from the party that he would be expelled if he did not resign from the Cabinet, as directed. As of August 2005, however, Zinck

208-801: Is still officially registered by the Fijian Parliament as a member of the NLUP. On 21 August, Zinck confirmed reports that Tokalauvere was trying to have the party deregistered. He said that Tokalauvere had no authority to do so, however. The Fiji Sun reported on 11 February 2006 that the party had in fact been deregistered, and that Zinck and Swann were both exploring other options for the 2006 election . 2001 Fijian general election Mahendra Chaudhry Labour Laisenia Qarase SDL General elections were held in Fiji in August and September 2001. The Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua party won 18 of

234-728: The Fijian Affairs Board , or the Great Council of Chiefs . Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase told the House of Representatives that the amendments, to which the Opposition Fiji Labour Party had agreed at the Tanaloa Talks in 2003, were necessary to allow chiefs to hold multiple positions if their subjects so wished. In 2005, several prominent figures were affected by the constitutional ban on politicians holding other public offices. These included Ro Teimumu Kepa ,

260-734: The Paramount Chief of the Burebasaga Confederacy , who was required to relinquish her chairmanship of the Rewa Provincial Council, which was deemed to be incompatible with her position as a member of the House of Representatives and as a Cabinet Minister . Even though the Labour Party agreed to the amendments in 2003, it has indicated that it will oppose them now. The FLP is bitterly opposed to other government legislation, such as

286-643: The Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill which may be passed with a simple majority, and it is thought that its stated intention to oppose these amendments, which require a two-thirds majority in both houses, may be a ploy to force the government to negotiate on the Unity Bill. In July 2009, following the suspension of the Constitution in April, interim Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama announced that Fiji would have

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312-459: The 2001 election, with Prime Minister Qarase finding reasons, which many considered to be pretexts, for not implementing the power-sharing provisions of the Constitution, which required that every political party with more than 8 seats in the House of Representatives must be proportionally represented in the Cabinet . On 18 July 2003, the Supreme Court of Fiji ruled that Qarase's exclusion of

338-467: The 23 seats reserved for ethnic Fijians and one of three " general electorates " set aside for Fiji's European, Chinese, and other minorities. It also won 13 of the 25 "open electorates," so-called because they are open to candidates of any race and are elected by universal suffrage. The remaining five ethnic Fijian seats, and one open electorate, were won by the Conservative Alliance , one of whom

364-572: The Constitution would remain in effect, but said on 17 December that "as a last resort", it could be abrogated if no other way could be found to ensure immunity from prosecution for soldiers involved in the takeover. In the April 2009 crisis , President Josefa Iloilo suspended the Constitution and dismissed all judges after the Court of Appeal ruled the military government from 2006 illegal. The Fijian Constitution comprises seventeen chapters. The links in

390-712: The FLP and the National Federation Party , the only other political party with significant Indo-Fijian support, to reach a preference-swapping deal had also worked against both parties. (In Fiji's system of transferable voting , any two or more candidates in a particular constituency can have their votes combined, unless the electors specify a different option by ranking the candidates numerically in order of their preference). This does not include seats that changed candidates but not parties, defections or seats held by members not seeking re-election. Controversy continued after

416-476: The FLP announced in November that it was no longer interested in participating in the Qarase-led government. 1997 Constitution of Fiji The 1997 Constitution of Fiji was the supreme law of Fiji from its adoption in 1997 until 2009 when President Josefa Iloilo purported to abrogate it. It was also suspended for a period following the 2000 coup d'état led by George Speight . The Constitution of

442-473: The Great Council of Chiefs, which retained its power to elect the President and 14 of the 32 Senators. The 1997 constitution was only the second national constitution to explicitly protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation (section 38). The first one was South Africa's in 1996. The 1997 constitution was abrogated by Commodore Frank Bainimarama , who organised a counter-coup to neutralise

468-495: The Labour Party from the Cabinet was unconstitutional, and demanded that the situation be rectified. Appeals, counter-appeals, and negotiations delayed the implementation of the order. In June 2004, the Supreme Court ruled that the Labour Party was entitled to 14 out of 30 Cabinet posts. Qarase has said that he would abide by the ruling, but his refusal to include Chaudhry in the Cabinet lineup continued to stall negotiations, until

494-535: The Opposition. Most members of the party decided in June 2002 to join with three other parties to form the new Fiji Democratic Party , under the leadership of Filipe Bole . This party dissolved itself in April 2005, in order to join the newly formed National Alliance Party of Fiji , led by Ratu Epeli Ganilau . A rump of the NLUP continues under the leadership of Tomasi Tokalauvere , a trade unionist. The party secretary

520-530: The Republic of the Fiji Islands dates from 1997. It is Fiji's third Constitution. The first, adopted in 1970 upon independence, was abrogated following two military coups in 1987. A second constitution was adopted in 1990. Its discriminatory provisions, which reserved the office of Prime Minister and a built-in majority in the House of Representatives for indigenous Fijians (although they were at that time

546-520: The Senate on 10 July. President Mara signed it into law on 25 July 1997. It took effect from 27 July. Under its provisions, ethnic Fijians agreed to give up their guaranteed majority in the House of Representatives and their monopoly on the Prime Minister's office, but in return, their ownership of most of the land was written into the constitution. Their rights were also protected by institutionalising of

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572-419: The index on this page are to articles summarising their contents, along with the interpretation and the historical background, including reasons for their provision. Ongoing controversies are also noted. At the end of September 2005, the government introduced legislation to amend the Constitution so as to allow parliamentarians and other senior government officials to serve as members of Provincial Councils ,

598-461: The interim Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase narrowly defeated the Fiji Labour Party of deposed former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry . The FLP had been hurt by leadership bickering in the wake of the coup, and the subsequent defection of a number of its high-profile members from the ethnic Fijian community, including Tupeni Baba , the former Deputy Prime Minister. The mutual refusal of

624-539: Was George Speight who had led the putsch against the lawful government the year before. Chaudhry's Labour Party won all 19 Indo-Fijian seats and eight open electorates. The New Labour Unity Party , formed by defectors from the FLP, won one general electorate and one open electorate. The three remaining seats (one general electorate, one open electorate, and the Rotuman Islanders' seat) were won by minor parties and independent candidates. The Constitution of Fiji

650-501: Was established to study the report. Eight months later, the committee tabled its response in Parliament on 14 May 1997, endorsing most of the recommendations. The Great Council of Chiefs , a powerful gathering of mainly high chiefs which, among other prerogatives, elects the President of Fiji, also endorsed the report in June. The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 1997 was passed by the House of Representatives on 3 July that year, and by

676-540: Was restored by a High Court decision on 15 November 2000, following the failure of the political upheaval in which the government had been deposed and the constitution suspended in May that year. On 1 March 2001, the Appeal Court upheld the decision. An election to restore democracy was held in September 2001. In what was one of Fiji's most bitterly fought elections ever, the newly formed Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua of

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