General elections were held in
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 ...
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 of Fiji, Chief Minister from 1967 to 1970, when Fiji gained its independence from the United Kingdom, and, apart from one brief in ...
was defeated by a coalition of the
Fiji Labour Party
The Fiji Labour Party (FLP; ),() 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 indigenous Fijian, Dr. Timoc ...
(contesting a general election for the first time) and
National Federation Party
The National Federation Party ( Fiji Hindi: नेशनल फेडरेशन पार्टी; Fijian: ''Mataisoqosoqo ni National Federation'') is a Fijian political party founded by A. D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Fe ...
, 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 a medica ...
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
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 Parliamentary constitu ...
. 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 (; ; ), or simply a coup
, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
led by Lieutenant-Colonel
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 de ...
.
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
Until the abolishment of communal constituencies in the Fijian electoral system in 2014, there was very little cross-ethnic voting in Fiji. In communal constituencies, electors enrolled as ethnic Fijians, Indo-Fijians, Rotuman Islanders, or G ...
(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
national constituencies
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 Parliamentary constitu ...
(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
See also
* List of members of the Parliament of Fiji (1987)
References
{{Fijian elections
Elections in Fiji
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry.
In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
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 ...
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 ...