|
Great Council Of Chiefs
The Great Council of Chiefs () is a Fijian constitutional body. It previously existed from 1876 to March 2012 and was restored in May 2023. It is different from the House of Chiefs, a larger body that includes all hereditary chiefs, although membership of the two bodies overlapped to a considerable extent. The Great Council of Chiefs in its most recent form was established under Section 116 of the now-defunct 1997 Constitution, but it actually predated the Constitution by many years, having been established by the British colonial rulers as an advisory body in 1876, two years after Fiji was ceded to the United Kingdom. The current chairperson is Viliame Seruvakula. History The Council was established in 1876 under the governorship of Sir Arthur Gordon. The decision was taken following consultations with chiefs, who advised Sir Arthur on how best to govern the colony's indigenous population. In the words of anthropologist Robert Norton, it "embodied the privileged relati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiji
Fiji, 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 of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about 110 are permanently inhabited—and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of about . The most outlying island group is Ono-i-Lau. About 87% of the total population live on the two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. About three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levu's coasts, either in the capital city of Suva, or in smaller urban centres such as Nadi (where tourism is the major local industry) or Lautoka (where the Sugarcane, sugar-cane industry is dominant). The interior of Viti Levu is sparsely inhabited because of its terrain. The majority of Fiji's islands were formed by Volcano, volcanic activity starting around 150 million years ago. Some geothermal activity still occurs today on the islands of Vanua Levu and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sitiveni Rabuka
Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka (; born 13 September 1948) 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. Rabuka was elected as leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party in 2016, succeeding Leader of the Opposition Ro Teimumu Kepa, who publicly disapproved of Rabuka's nomination to replace her. He was appointed as the leader of the Opposition to Parliament in 2018, following the 2018 election defeat. He was the only nomination for the position, and his nomination was moved by Ro Teimumu Kepa and seconded by Biman Prasad. He was ousted as SODELPA leader by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ratu Sakiusa Makutu
''Ratu'' () is an Austronesian title used by male Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, ''adi'' (pronounced ), is used by females of chiefly rank. In the Malay language, the title ''ratu'' is also the traditional honorific title to refer to the ruling king or queen in Javanese culture (though it has since been used in modern contexts to refer to both queen regnant and queen consort of any nation, e.g. "Ratu Elizabeth II" and "Ratu Camilla"). Thus in Java, a royal palace is called "''keraton''", constructed from the circumfix ''ke- -an'' and ''Ratu'', to describe the residence of the ratu. Ratu: A chiefly title for men used alone as a form of address, or in front of the chief's name, only in certain places The source of the Fijian title is Verata, and it has spread throughout Fiji during the past century, now applied to many local, minor chiefs as well as the major ones. The concept of his type of title is from Tonga. Strictly speaking, the title belongs only in Verat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ovini Bokini
''Ratu'' Ovini Bokini Ratu (3 November 1944 – 15 January 2009) was a Fijian chief and political leader. Bokini, who held the chiefly title of '' Tui Tavua'', succeeded Ratu Epeli Ganilau as Chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs on 21 July 2004, and was re-elected to this post for a full three-year term on 27 July 2005. A formal gathering of mostly traditional chiefs chosen by the country's 14 provincial councils, along with some appointees of the national government and the Council of Rotuma, the Great Council of Chiefs functioned as an electoral college to select Fiji's President, along with 14 of the 32 members of the Senate. Informally, the Council advised the Fijian government on every aspect of political life. Although not mandated by the Constitution, the chairman's role was therefore a very influential one. During late April 2007, all members of G.C.C were suspended by the Interim Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama. The suspension included the chairman, Ovini Bokini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simione Kaitani
Simione Kaitani is a former Fijian politician and Cabinet Minister in the government of Laisenia Qarase. He was tried for taking an illegal oath over the 2000 Fijian coup d'état in 2005, but acquitted. He later served as Leader of the House, until removed from office by the 2006 Fijian coup d'état. Kaitani was first elected to the House of Representatives of Fiji as an independent candidate to represent the Lomaiviti Fijian Communal constituency in the 1999 Fijian general election, and later joined the Christian Democratic Alliance (VLV). The VLV disintegrated in the political realignment that followed the coup, but Kaitani joined the newly formed Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL), and retained his seat in the election of 2001 as an SDL candidate. He was subsequently appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Information. In that role, he introduced a Media Bill in an attempt to control the media. In November 2002 he was refused a visa to travel to the USA over his alle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jope Seniloli
''Ratu'' Jope Naucabalavu Seniloli (14 June 1939 – 28 June 2015) was a Fijian chief who held the title of '' Turaga Taukei Naua'' and who served as Fiji's vice-president from 25 March 2001 to 29 November 2004, when he was forced to resign following his conviction for treason on 6 August 2004, and the rejection of his appeal early in November. Biography Seniloli was appointed vice-president in 2000 as an apparent gesture of appeasement towards the supporters of the 2000 coup which deposed the lawfully elected government of President ''Ratu Sir'' Kamisese Mara and Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry. The 6 August 2004 verdict found Seniloli guilty of unlawfully proclaiming himself President during the coup, and of illegally swearing in cabinet ministers, including George Speight, the chief instigator of the coup, as Prime Minister. Seniloli's lawyer, Mehboob Raza, maintained that he had done so only "under duress," at gunpoint, a defence rejected by High Court Justice Nazh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Local Government In Fiji
Fiji is divided administratively into four division (political geography), divisions, which are further subdivided into fourteen provinces of Fiji, provinces. Each province has a provincial council. Administrative divisions Fiji is divided administratively into four divisions, which are further subdivided into fourteen provinces of Fiji, provinces; the self-governing island of Rotuma and its nearby islets lie outside any of the four divisions. Each division is headed by a ''Commissioner,'' appointed by the Fijian government. The divisions are basically agglomerations of provinces and have few administrative functions of their own, but serve to foster cooperation among the member provinces for providing services. Provinces Provincial council Each province has a ''provincial council'' which may make bylaws and impose rates (local taxes), subject to the approval of the Minister for iTaukei Affairs, iTaukei Affairs Board a government department. The board must also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cakaudrove Province
Cakaudrove () is one of fourteen provinces of Fiji, and one of three based principally on the northern island of Vanua Levu, occupying the south-eastern third of the island and including the nearby islands of Taveuni, Rabi, Kioa, and numerous other islands in the Vanua Levu Group. It has a total land area of 2,816 square kilometers, with a population of 50,469 at the most recent census in 2017, making it the seventh most populous province. The only major town is Savusavu, with a population of 3,372 in 2007. Politics Cakaudrove has proved to be one of Fiji's most influential provinces. Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, Fiji's last Governor-General and first President, held the chiefly title of '' Tui Cakau'', with Cakaudrove as his traditional fiefdom. Former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is also from Cakaudrove. The present ''Tui Cakau,'' Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, is a Cabinet Minister and leader of the Conservative Alliance (CAMV), a nationalist political party with considerable s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epeli Ganilau
Brigadier-General ''Ratu'' Epeli Ganilau, MC, MSD, (10 October 1951 – 23 March 2023) was a Fijian military officer and politician. His career previously encompassed such roles as Commander of the Fiji Military Forces and Chairman of the ''Bose Levu Vakaturaga'' (Great Council of Chiefs). On 15 January 2007 he was sworn in as Minister for Fijian Affairs in the interim Cabinet formed in the wake of the 2006 Fijian coup d'état which deposed the Qarase government on 5 December 2006. Early life Ganilau was educated at Wanganui Collegiate School, in New Zealand, from 1965. He later graduated from the University of the South Pacific and from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, England, and the Royal New Zealand Air Force Staff College. Military career He enlisted in the Royal Fiji Military Forces in June 1972, and attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK. He had served several tours of duty with the UN forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and with the Multinationa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soqosoqo Ni Vakavulewa Ni Taukei
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 A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ... governments from 1992 to 1999. Origins The party was founded in 1990 as the political vehicle of the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC), with the declared goal of uniting all Fijians, indigenous Fijians. A new 1990 Constitution of Fiji, constitution promulgated in 1990, following two 1987 Fijian coups d'état, military coups in 1987, abolished the "National constituencies, national" parliamentary seats elected by universal suffrage (which had comprised almost half the House of Representatives); all members henceforth were to be elected by enr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2000 Fijian Coup D'état
The 2000 Fijian coup d'état was a civilian coup d'état by an armed group of indigenous Fijian nationalists supported by the Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit, against the elected government of Indo-Fijian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, on 19 May 2000. This was followed by President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara's attempt to assert executive authority on 27 May. Mara would resign under duress on 29 May, handing power to Frank Bainimarama, a commander of the Fijian military. The coups resulted in the removal of the elected government and its replacement by an interim regime headed by Josefa Iloilo. In March 2001, the Court of Appeal of Fiji ruled that the coups and interim regime were illegal. An elected government was finally restored by the 2001 Fijian general election. George Speight, the leader of the coup, was convicted of treason and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and on 18 September 2024, he was pardoned by Fiji's Mercy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brij Lal (historian)
Brij Vilash Lal , OF (21 August 1952 – 25 December 2021) was an Indo-Fijian historian who wrote about the Pacific region and the Indian indenture system. A harsh critic of the Bainimarama government, which originated in the military coup of 2006 and retained power in the 2014 elections, he lived in exile in Australia. Early life Lal was born in 1952 in Tabia, Labasa on the northern island of Vanua Levu, Fiji to illiterate parents. His paternal grandfather was a North Indian indentured sugar cane farmer in Fiji, known as a ' girmitya', - the focus of Lal's early academic research. He completed an undergraduate degree in history at the University of the South Pacific. He went on to do an MA (1976) at the University of British Columbia and a PhD (1980) at the Australian National University. Academic career Lal was professor of Pacific and Asian History at the School of Culture, History and Language at Australian National University from 1990 until his retirement i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
