Fiji

Monthly Event Reports GSOD Indices

Fiji performs in the mid-range across all categories of the Global State of Democracy framework, although performance in Representation, Rights and the Rule of Law are at the lower end of this band. It is amongst the top 25 per cent of the world’s countries with regard to Electoral Participation and Civil Society. Over the past five years, it has experienced significant advances in Civil Society but has suffered from declines in Social Group Equality. Fiji is an upper-middle-income country and one of the most economically developed Pacific Island nations, with key economic sectors including international tourism, sugarcane cultivation, and garment manufacturing; its largest export is bottled water.

Fiji gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1970 and formally became a republic in 1987 following an indigenous-led military coup that overthrew a multi-ethnic coalition and removed Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state. Subsequent developments reflected the strong degree of ethnic divisions within the country, including between indigenous Fijians, known as the “i-Taukei" and Indo-Fijians. Most of the latter were brought to Fiji as indentured laborers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and comprised a majority of the population as recently as the 1980s. After independence, protests and nationalist rhetoric surrounded most elections, as partisan politics often fell along ethnic lines. Fiji’s political history has been dominated by four coups d’état, most recently in 2006, and military domination of the government. The indigenous ethnonationalist-led coups in 1987 and 2000 triggered significant outmigration of Indo-Fijians, and i-Taukei now make up a slight majority. The current constitution, adopted in 2013, enshrines the military as the guarantors of democracy and well-being, which has perpetuated its centrality to Fijian politics and shields it from civilian oversight.

Fiji’s four coups have been fundamentally rooted in its ethnic divide. The 2000 coup saw the overthrow of the country’s only Indo-Fijian Prime Minister by Fijian nationalists. Land issues are a major component of this divide, as a dual tenure system has led to indigenous Fijians owning 83 per cent of the country’s land. Although Fiji returned to holding free democratic elections eight years after the 2006 coup, press freedom is routinely challenged, corruption remains endemic, and the first peaceful transfer of power took place in December 2022. Watchdog groups say cruel and inhuman treatment by police and corrections officers is commonplace. Domestic violence against women and girls remains a serious issue, and Fijian women continue to earn significantly less than men. While discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is constitutionally banned, the LGBTQIA+ community continues to face hate speech from politicians and religious leaders, as well as broader challenges within society. Environmental issues also loom large on the political scene, as deforestation, overfishing, and climate change threaten the country’s future.

The peaceful transfer of power from Frank Bainimarama to Sitiveni Rabuka in 2022 may result in a rollback of the former’s authoritarian tendencies, but also a shift in power back to traditional chiefs and more local control. A history of poor press freedoms should be watched for impacts on Civil Liberties. The government has criminalized certain journalistic activities and has frequently engaged in censorship. Freedom of assembly is also regularly challenged, as march permits for protests are routinely denied. Ultimately, the country’s future depends in large part on the world’s response to climate change.

July 2023 | Parliament weakens restrictions on registration

Fiji’s parliament passed a bill allowing voters to register using the name by which they are commonly known on 11 July, overriding a 2021 law that required voters to register using a name that matched their birth certificate. The previous law was criticized as discriminating against women who took their spouse’s surnames with marrying, as it required them to legally change their name on their birth certificate in order to register to vote.

Disenfranchisement Electoral Reform

May 2023 | Great Council of Chiefs re-convened after 16 year suspension

The Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) re-convened for the first time after 16 years of suspension on Bau Island. Established by the British colonial rulers as an advisory body in 1876, it was suspended in 2007 by then-prime minister Frank Bainimarama, who accused it of interfering in politics and inciting racial tension – the body is only open to members of the hereditary iTaukei aristocracy and not Indo-Fijians or other minorities. Bainimarama suspended it by decree in 2012. The coalition government has says the reconvened GCC will be an advisory body to safeguard, collaborate and promote inclusivity across all Fijian ethnic groups.

Great Council of Chiefs

April 2023 | Parliament repeals Media Industry Development Act

On 6 April, the Fijian Parliament repealed the Media Industry Development Act (MIDA), a decree passed by the then-military government in 2010. The MIDA was criticized by journalists and media rights groups as a tool to harass and intimidate critical journalists and a “noose around the neck of the media industry and journalists.” Repealing the MIDA had been a major campaign promise of Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and was welcomed by Fijian journalists and international press freedom advocates.

Democratic expansion

February 2023 | Fiji opposition leader Bainimarama suspended from parliament for three years

On 17 February ex-Prime Minister and opposition leader Frank Bainimarama was suspended from parliament for three years for sedition and insulting the president and ordered to apologize to the president and the public. The sentencing followed a previous parliamentary session in which Bainimarama criticized Fijian President Wiliame Katonivere for supporting the new government and accused him of having failed to uphold the constitution. Bainimarama, who ruled Fiji for 16 years after seizing power in a military coup, lost power in a national election in December, and since then the new government has taken steps to marginalize or remove officials appointed by Bainimarama. Although legal, the lengthy suspension is unprecedented in Fiji, with analysts noting both Bainimarama’s history of undermining democracy in Fiji and the uncertain consequences of removing one of the country’s most influential politicians from politics.

Frank Bainimarama Wiliame Katonivere