Chiefs and Indians: Elections and Politics in Contemporary Fiji

Abstract

Fiji went to the polls in late May 1992, five years after the coups of 1987, and two years after the promulgation of a new constitution that entrenches indigenous Fijian supremacy in the political process. The elections were a welcome small step toward the restoration of a semblance of parliamentary democracy in Fiji. They also produced a result that confounded conventional wisdom. Sitiveni Rabuka became prime minister with the support of the Fiji Labour Party he had ousted from power in 1987. The National Federation Party-Fiji Labour Party Coalition disintegrated on the eve of the elections, with the two parties engaging in a bitter contest for votes in the Indo-Fijian community. Fragmentation was also the trend in the Fijian community. These developments and the politics behind them are considered in detail within a framework that looks retrospectively at the major political and economic developments since the coups. The issues examined include the interim administration's economic policies, which unwittingly helped forge alliances across ethnic and ideological divides; the controversy over the 1990 constitution and its rejection by the opposition Indo-Fijian parties; the emergence of new political parties and conflicts in the Fijian camp; the disarray in the Coalition over whether or not to boycott the election; the campaign; and the race for prime ministership between Rabuka and Josefata Kamikamica. Drama aside, the elections failed to address some of the fundamental structural problems that face the people of Fiji and will need to be addressed sooner or later.