The Republic of Fiji is situated in the southwest Pacific Ocean about 1,500 miles due north of New Zealand and has a population of approximately 758,000. Its territory consists of approximately 320 islands, including the island of Rotuma (a small island in the north of the Fiji archipelago, whose people are culturally distinct from Fijians). However, only about 100 islands are inhabited. Fiji gained independence from Great Britain on October 10, 1970, but remained within the Commonwealth until 1987 when a bloodless military coup toppled the newly elected Indian-dominated government. After a second military intervention in September of the same year, Fiji was dismissed from the Commonwealth. Fiji was declaired a republic in October 1987 with the establishment of a care-taker government until the promulgation of a new constitution in 1990 and the election of a civilian government two years later.

Under Fiji's new constitution, executive authority is vested in the President, Ratu Sir Kamisese K.T. Mara, who is also commander-in-chief of Fiji and was appointed by the Bose Levu Vaka Turaga (Great Council of Chiefs) for a five year term. The president appoints, as prime minister, the Fijian member of the house of representatives who commands the majority. Thus, both the president and prime minister are guaranteed to remain Fijian in perpetuity. Other ministers, as under the old constitution, are appointed by the head of state acting on the advice of the prime minister. The president also appoints the leader of the opposition who is either the leader of the largest party in opposition or the person deemed most acceptable to other leaders of opposition parties.

Until the military coups, Fiji's population was almost fifty percent Indian, descendants of migrant workers from India brought in by the British to work the sugar cane fields. The racially biased 1990 constitution inpart reflects the country's multiracial nature as well as Taukei (indigenous Fijian) unease over Indian economic assendency. The two coups, as well as the new constitution, endeavored to remove two preceived threats to Fijian political supremacy which existed under the old constitution; the prospect of an Indian-dominated party controlling the lower house, and the possibility of any non-Fijian becoming prime minister. Under the 1990 constitution any elected parliament has a life of five years, unless disloved sooner or prolonged in cases of national emergency. It is still bicameral, consisting of a slightly enlarged, thirty-four member (versus 22), Senate and an expanded, seventy member (versus 52), House of Representatives. The senators are appointed by the president for four-year terms and are unaffected by dissolutions of parliament. Twenty-four Fijians are recommended to the Senate by the Bose Levu Vaka Turaga, one Rotuman is recommended by the Rotuman Island Council and nine others are selected at the president's discretion from other communities. As with the senate, apart from the increased size, the significant difference in the house of representatives is reflected in its composition. There are now thirty-seven members elected to represent Fijians; twenty-seven to represent Indians; one to represent Rotumans and five to represent the others (Europeans, Chinese, other Pacific Islanders, etc.). Voting in Fiji, which in the past had been a complicated affair employing multiple ballot rolls, now follows racial lines exclusively, with electors only able to vote for candidates from their own ethnic group. Finally, although bills may originate in either house, parliamentary authority rests, as before, largely with the house of representatives, since the actual power of the senate is limited.

The independent judicial branch includes the High Court, a Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, which is presided over by a chief justice appointed by the president. Complaints concerning the actions of governmental authorities are investigated by an ombudsman. Parliament is to make provision for the application of laws, including customary laws, and until such time as an act of parliament decides otherwise, Fijian customary law has effect as part of the laws of the country. Furthermore, the Fijian Administration, under the control of the Fijian Affairs Board, is a comprehensive system of local government, affecting only the Fijian section of the population and acting to preserve traditional communal structures.

Prior to the 1987 coups, there were two major political parties in Fiji; the Alliance Party which had been in power since independence and drew most of its support from the ethnic Fijians, the European and Chinese communities, and about 25 percent of the Indian community and, the National Federation Party (NFP) which received almost all of its support from rural and urban Indian workers and was the leading opposition party. Other parties, such as the Fijian Nationalist Party, an extremist splinter of the Alliance Party, and the regionally based Western United Party, played only minor roles in national politics. In 1985, the Fiji Labour Party was formed and quickly proved to be a significant new force in Fiji. It appealed to working-class people regardless of race, and it made an impressive debut when it won eight of twenty seats in the Suva City Council in July 1985. In the 1987 national elections, the NFP and the Fiji Labour Party joined forces to become the NFP/Labour Coalition headed by Dr. Timoci Bavadra, an ethnic Fijian. The Coalition was able to make serious inroads into the Fijian constituency and won the 1987 election. The new government attempted to accurately reflect the multiracial character of Fiji by evenly dividing the 14 cabinet portfolios; seven each to Fijians and Indians, with due sensitivity paid to the realities of Fiji politics. This did not prove to be enough to eliminate building frustration and anger within the Fijian community as many began petitioning for Taukei "empowerment." As the Taukei Movement grew and civil unrest increased, a handpicked team of Lebanon-experienced officers under the leadership of then Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka took parliament in the first of two bloodless coups, deposing the Coalition government and suspending the constitution. It was six years before Fiji returned to a civilian government. In the mean time, Fiji narrowly averted a complete economic collapse, instituted a racially biased constitution, and has continued to suffer from a lack of skilled technicians and mid-level managers as Indians left in droves fearing a second girmit; a second-class life dependent on the largess of the indigenous Fijians.

The main issues in contemporary Fijian politics continue to reflect the multiracial nature of its population, the fallout from the two 1987 military coups and the new racially biased constitution. Following his retirement from the military, Sitiveni Rabuka was elected Fiji's first post-coup prime minister, as leader of the Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT -- "Fijian Political Party"). However, due to disaffection within his party and public criticism by the Kermode Commission of Inquery into aledged government misconduct, Rabuka's 1994 government budget was defeated forcing him to call a snap general election. Although Rabuka was returned as prime minister, he failed to fulfill his prediction of an increased majority as the new rival indigenous Fijian party, the Fijian Association formed by former SVT dissidents, took some of the Fijian seats. Soon after claiming victory, Rabuka hinted at plans for a government of national unity by bringing Indians into government. The biggest change in the election was among the Indian seats, where the moderate National Federation Party, led by Opposition leader Jai Ram Reddy, increased its parliamentary strength at the expense of the Fiji Labour Party, lead by trade unionist Mahendra Chaudhry. Meanwhile, the economy has rebounded from its near collapse and thanks to textile manufacturing in newly created duty-free zones, has helped return Fiji's economy to among the healthiest in the Pacific Islands, although still dependent on sugar exports and tourism.