General elections were held in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

between 4 and 11 April 1987. They marked the first electoral transition of power in Fijian history. Despite receiving just under 50% of the vote, the Alliance Party of longtime Prime Minister,

Kamisese Mara Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, (6 May 1920 – 18 April 2004) was a Fijian politician, who served as Chief Minister from 1967 to 1970, when Fiji gained its independence from the United Kingdom, and, apart from one brief interruption in 1987, the fi ...

was defeated by a coalition of the

Fiji Labour Party The Fiji Labour Party (FLP; fj, Ilawalawa Cakacaka ni Viti), also known as Fiji Labour, is a political party in Fiji. Most of its support is from the Indo-Fijian community, although it is officially multiracial and its first leader was an in ...

(contesting a general election for the first time) and

National Federation Party The National Federation Party is a Fijian political party founded by A. D. Patel, A.D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Federation Party and the National Democratic Party (Fiji, 1960s), National Democratic Party. Though it claimed to ...

, which won 28 seats to the Alliance's 24. The Labour Party's

Timoci Bavadra Timoci Uluivuda Bavadra (22 September 1934 – 3 November 1989) was a Fijian medical doctor who founded the Fiji Labour Party and served as the Prime Minister of Fiji for one month in 1987. He was born in Viseisei, Viti Levu, and was medical doc ...

became Prime Minister. Bavadra's 28-member parliamentary caucus included only seven ethnic Fijians, all of them elected with predominantly Indo-Fijian support from

national constituencies {{Politics of Fiji National constituencies were a former feature of the Fijian electoral system. They were created as a compromise between demands for universal suffrage on a common voters' roll, and for a strictly communal franchise, with Par ...

. His fourteen-member cabinet included six Fijians, seven Indo-Fijians and one European. Effective Indo-Fijian control of the government caused widespread resentment among the ethnic Fijian community, and after less than a month in office, the new government was deposed on 14 May in a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

led by Lieutenant-Colonel

Sitiveni Rabuka Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka, (; born 13 September 1948) is a Fijian politician 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 Ministe ...

Electoral system

The 52 members of the House of Representatives were elected from two types of constituency, with candidature in each limited to one of three ethnic groups; Fijians, Indo-Fijians and

General electors "General Electors" is the term formerly used in Fiji to identify citizens of voting age who belonged, in most cases, to ethnic minorities. The 1997 Constitution defined General Electors as all Fiji citizens who were not registered as being of ...

, generally of European or Chinese descent. Twenty-seven members were elected from

communal constituencies {{Politics of Fiji Communal constituencies were the most durable feature of the Fijian electoral system. In communal constituencies, electors enrolled as ethnic Fijians, Indo-Fijians, Rotuman Islanders, or General electors (Europeans, Chinese ...

(12 Fijians, 12 Indo-Fijians and 3 general) in which voters voted for someone of their own ethnicity, with the remaining twenty-five elected from

(10 Fijian, 10 Indo-Fijian and 5 general) in which candidature was limited by ethnicity but all registered voters in a constituency could vote for.

Results

Aftermath

Following the elections Bavadra formed a fourteen member cabinet.Fiji's younger and smaller cabinet
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', June 1987, p20

References

{{Fijian elections Elections in Fiji

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Electoral system

Results

Aftermath

See also

References