Fiji maintains an independent, but generally pro-Western, foreign policy. It has traditionally had close relations with the United Kingdom, as well as with its major trading partners Australia and New Zealand. These relations cooled after both the 1987 and 2000 coups, and Fiji was suspended for a time from the Commonwealth of Nations, a grouping of mostly former British colonies.

It was readmitted to the Commonwealth in December 2001, following the parliamentary election held to restore democracy in September that year. Other Pacific Island governments have generally been sympathetic to Fiji’s internal political problems and have declined to take public positions.

Fiji became the 127th member of the United Nations on October 13, 1970, and participates actively in the organization. Fiji’s contributions to UN peacekeeping are unique for a nation of its size. It maintains nearly 1,000 soldiers overseas in UN peacekeeping missions, mainly in the Middle East.

Since independence, Fiji has been a leader in the South Pacific region, and has played a leading role in the formation of the South Pacific Forum. Fiji has championed causes of common interest to Pacific Island countries.

Diplomatic and trade developments

As of 2005, Fiji has become embroiled in a number of disagreements with other countries, including the United States, Australia, New Zealand, China, and Vanuatu.

Tensions with the United States

On 2 March 2005, Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase strongly reacted to a U.S. State Department report criticizing Fiji for practicing racial discriminiation, and for the racial divide between Fiji’s two main political parties, the SDL (mostly indigenous Fijian) and the Fiji Labour Party (mostly Indo-Fijian). “Fiji can make a similar report on the US on all those issues. Our report would be far worse than the US State Department’s report on Fiji,” he said. He went on to rebuke the United States for interfering in Fiji’s “domestic affairs.”

In an interview with the Fiji Times on 29 May 2005, America’s outgoing Ambassador David Lyons renewed his country’s criticism of Fijian policies by criticizing the Qarase government’s proposed Reconciliation and Unity Commission. Lyons expressed concern that its provisions for amnesty for persons convicted of involvement in the coup d’etat that overthrew the elected government in 2000 would encourage further coups in the future.

“If a democratic society doesn’t make it clear that the violent over-throw of its elected leaders is a crime against that society, I have to think that it is inviting future upheaval,” he said. He also condemned statements of public figures predicting coups if they, their party, or their race is not successful in the next parliamentary election, saying that such threats were “absolutely despicable in a free, democratic society” and constituted “the worst form of scaremongering.”

Lyons said that the amnesty for perpetrators of the 1987 coups had been an error of judgement and had set a precedent which could negatively affect the future unless stopped now. He concurred with statements made by a number of Fijian politicians, including deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and Senator Adi Koila Nailatikau, that a coup culture had taken root in Fiji.

He warned that tourism, which forms the mainstay of the Fijian economy, would be adversely impacted by any further instability. He believed, he said, that the Qarase government was sincere in its commitment to democracy, and acknowledged positive steps taken by the government to restore the rule of law. He added a word of caution, however: “All of these positive steps … will vanish in an instant if there is another coup or sufficient political upheaval questioning the legitimacy of future elections.”

On 12 July, however, Lyons cautioned the Fijian Military against using the legislation as a pretext for a coup d’etat. Their concern over the proposed law was understandable, he said, but it did warrant the overthrow of the government. “Extra constitutional action against a duly elected democratic government … is unacceptable,” he said. A coup would be detrimental not only to Fiji, but to the entire Pacific region, Lyons said.

Relations with Australia

On 13 April 2005, Qarase rejected criticism from Australia and some other countries over the prosecution and imprisonment of two foreigners charged with committing homosexual acts, which are illegal in Fiji, and said that other countries needed to respect Fiji’s independence. Qarase said that as member of the United Nations, Fiji was as entitled as any other country to make its own laws as it saw fit.

The Australian government has taken a more measured position than its New Zealand counterpart (q.v.) over the controversial Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill currently being debated in the Fijian Parliament. Susan Boyd, a former Australian High Commissioner to Fiji, has strongly criticized the legislation, but Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has said that it is an “internal matter” and that Australia does not want to get involved.

He did, however, condemn recent threats from the Military commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, to declare martial law and arrest members of the present government if the bill is passed. The Australian High Commission in Suva told Bainimarama that his threats are not “the proper role for the military in a democracy.”

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer visited Fiji for two days of talks, from 28-30 September 2005. Downer met government ministers and officials, Opposition Leader Mahendra Chaudhry, and Military commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama. The talks covered the controversial Unity bill, as well as the future of Fiji’s preferential trade access to the Australian market, which the Fijian government regards as a priority. Downer said that he intended to elaborate further on Prime Minister John Howard’s promise of a seven-year extension of the SPARTECA-TCF scheme, which assists Fiji’s textile, clothing, and footwear industry.

Foreign Minister Tavola expressed grave concern on 7 February 2006 about a proposed Regional Trade Agreement (RTA) between Australia and China, saying that Fiji’s exports to Australia would be unable to compete with Chinese products. For that reason, Fiji was persisting in its efforts to persuade Australia to renew the South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Cooperation - Textile Clothing Footwear (SPARTECA-TCF) scheme, to improve the competitiveness of Fijian exports, the Fiji Live news service reported.

Relations with China and Taiwan

A diplomatic row with the People’s Republic of China erupted on 5 May 2005, when Taiwan (ROC) President Chen Shui-bian arrived for a private visit and was welcomed at a private function at Suva’s Sheraton Resort by Vice-President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, Ratu Ovini Bokini (Chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs), Senate President Taito Waqavakatoga and several other Senators and MPs, and several judges including Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki. Foreign Minister Kaliopate Tavola asserted that those who attended the welcoming ceremony did so “of their own accord,” not as government representatives, and that Prime Minister Qarase’s presence in the same hotel where President Chen was staying was purely “coincidental.” Chinese Ambassador Cai Jin Biao rejected this explanation, and said that the visit was a violation of the One China Policy, to which Fiji had agreed when diplomatic relations were established in 1975, which would “sabotage relations between China and Fiji.” He charged that Prime Minister Qarase and Foreign Minister Tavola had known of the upcoming visit for months. The embassy issued a further statement on 7 May, demanding that Fiji discontinue any effort to establish a dialogue with Taiwan.

The row escalated when, on 16 May, Health Minister Solomone Naivalu voted in support of Taiwan’s bid to gain observer status at the World Health Assembly in Geneva. Naivalu had apparently done so on his own initiative, contrary to a government briefing, sparking a major public disagreement between himself and Foreign Minister Tavola. Jia Qinglin, chairman of the People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), was dispatched to Fiji and met Prime Minister Qarase during a brief stopover on 21-22 May, a move that Tavola said was not coincidental. He said that Fiji could not afford to lose China, and that the government would ensure that “careless incidences” like Naivalu’s vote in Geneva would not recur. Naivalu responded by saying that his vote was nothing new: “We always support Taiwan to get observer status every year,” he said.

On 10 December 2005, the New Zealand Herald quoted Tavola as saying that Fiji would have to find a way to resolve a stand-off between the PRC and Taiwan, over membership of the Suva-based Council of South Pacific Tourism Organisation; China was resisting Taiwanese attempts to join the organization on an equal basis. “If China had its way it would not want Taiwan on that. So we have to resolve the situation amicably and are looking at how both countries can be represented there,”‘Tavola said.

In defence of the earlier incident over the Taiwanese President’s visit, Tavola said that it was the Pacific way to welcome people. “Even when considering Taiwan as a province of China, he went on, the President of a province is a man of high profile, so when he comes there is an urge to extend hospitality.” It did not signify any modification to Fiji’s adherence to the One China policy, he had explained to the Chinese ambassador.

China has invested in a number of major projects in Fiji. These include the Suva sports stadium, built for the South Pacific Games of 2003.

On 14 December 2005, Fiji’s Military Commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama began an official visit to China, at the invitation of the People’s Liberation Army. He reaffirmed Fiji’s support for the One China policy.

It was announced on 24 January 2006 that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao would visit Fiji in April to open the China-Pacific Islands Countries Economic Development and Cooperation Forum Ministerial Conference 2006 at Sofitel Fiji Resort in Nadi, a conference of economic and trade ministers from Pacific island countries. Six Prime Ministers from neighbouring countries are expected to participate, according to a Fiji Times report on 23 February. His visit to Fiji will be the first by a senior Chinese government official.

In an interview with PACNEWS on 1 February 2006, Jeremaia Waqanisau, Fiji’s Ambassador to Beijing, made a stinging attack on the efficiency of the Fijian civil service, saying that it negatively affected Fiji’s ability to present itself to China. Cabinet Ministers visited China without the Fijian embassy being informed, he complained. Certain civil servants were extremely passive in their dealings with China, he said. Another factor inhibiting Chinese investment was the instability caused by friction between the government and the Military, he surmised, and the Fijian embassy in Beijing was continually engaged in damage control.

Relations with New Zealand

On 10 June 2005, Foreign Minister Tavola signed a Memorandum of Understanding with his New Zealand counterpart, Phil Goff, aimed at fostering cooperation in the fight against terrorism. Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Helen Clark announced that New Zealand would double its annual aid to Fiji, from NZ$4 million to NZ$8 million. Much of this aid, the Fijian government revealed, would be used for poverty alleviation and squatter resettlement.

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters (who replaced Goff in late 2005) flew into Fiji on 8 February 2006 for three days of talks with Fijian government officials. He met Prime Minister Qarase, Finance Minister Ratu Jone Kubuabola, and Military Commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama on the first day of his visit; meetings with Foreign Minister Tavola and House of Representatives Speaker Ratu Epeli Nailatikau were held later. The meeting with Bainimarama attracted some media attention; Bainimarama said that the meeting had been approved by Prime Minister Qarase and that there was nothing underhand about it.

The talks are to cover such matters as the Pacific Plan and a cost-sharing agreement for a citizen education project, promoted by the United Nations Development Programme.

Concern over reduced British presence

Foreign Minister Tavola expressed concern on 11 July about moves by the British government to reduce its presence in the Pacific region. “We were not happy with that and on occasions, informed them of the folly of their decision to downsize their presence in the Pacific,” Tavola said. Britain has already closed its consulate in Kiribati and plans to close its missions in Tonga this year and Vanuatu next year. Britain has also withdrawn from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, a regional organization of which it was a founding member and a major donor.

Tavola said the British withdrawal could create a power vacuum which others could exploit. A new Cold War era could come to the Pacific region, he said, with rivalries between China and Taiwan, as well as between China and Japan.

Trade war with Vanuatu

On 11 March 2005, Vanuatu imposed a ban in biscuit imports, ostensibly to protect its own biscuit manufacturing industry, giving a monopoly on the business to the Santo-based Wong Sze Sing store. The ban was the second in a year. Bread and breakfast cereals produced by Flour Mills of Fiji (FMF) were the worst-hit; the company claimed to be losing F$2 million annually.

Fiji retaliated on 13 June with a threat to impose a total commercial embargo on Vanuatu. Major income-earners for Vanuatu targeted by the Fijian government include Vanuatu kava, valued at almost US$3.2 million, and Air Vanuatu flights (US$8 million).

On 29 June, Foreign Minister Tavola said that Fiji was “running out of patience” and that he was writing to the government of Vanuatu in what he called a “final gesture of friendship.”

On 27 July, Vanuatu’s Trade Minister James Bule signed an order lifting the ban, effective from 22 July. No reason was given for the change of policy, but the Fiji Live news service reported that the decision averted a lawsuit from FMF and the threatened kava ban.

Fiji’s Foreign Affairs chief executive officer, Isikeli Mataitoga, said that Fiji’s policy of pursuing diplomatic channels in dealing with such disputes had been vindicated. “Whilst I agree that it can take a bit of time to see it through carefully, it nevertheless, demonstrates to our regional friends that we are principled in our approach to international relations and diplomacy,” Mataitoga said. (more…)

Fiji is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean. Though geographically Melanesian, Fijian music is more Polynesian in character. Nevertheless, Fijian folk styles are distinct in their fusion of Polynesian and Melanesian traditions. Folk music is dominated by vocal church music, as well as dances characterized by rich harmony and complex percussion made from slit drums or natural materials.

Folk music

Modern Fijians play mandolin, guitar and ukulele along with a variety of indigenous instruments, most commonly lali drums, which are now used to call the people of an area together. Lali drums were an important part of traditional Fijian culture, used as a form of communication to announce births, deaths and wars. A smaller form of the lali drum (lali ni meke) is used as a form in instrumentation. Meke is a kind of spiritual folk dance, in which dancers bodies are said to be possessed by spirits.

Other percussion instruments include the derua, which are tubes made of bamboo which are stamped on mats or on the ground. Other dances included the women’s dele, which humiliated enemy prisoners sexually, and the men’s cibi, which uses spears and clubs

Pop

In the 1980s, Fijian performers like Laisa Vulakoro and Lagani Rabukawaqa became pan-Pacific stars. Vulakoro is especially well-known for her part in creating vude, a popular style that combines disco, country and island music (especially the meke rhythm) and rock and roll.

Other modern performers include the band Nuku Katudrau, Karuna Gopalan, The Black Roses, Danny Costello, Michelle Rounds, Seru Serevi and The Freelancers .Fiji is especially known for the field of Fijian reggae.

As a multiracial and multicultural nation, Fiji’s culture is a rich mosaic of indigenous, Indian, and European traditions. The main focus of this article is traditions native to Fiji; customs of immigrant cultures are covered more fully in other articles. For the culture of Indo-Fijians, see Culture of India

Hierarchy

Fijian society is very communal, with great importance attached to the family unit, the village, and the vanua (land). A hierarchy of chiefs presides over villages, clans, and tribes. Chiefly positions are hereditary; a deceased chief is invariably followed by a kinsman, though not necessarily his own son. This reflects Polynesian influence: in most other Melanesian societies, chiefs are appointed on merit.

The largest social unit for Fijians is the Yavusa, defined by historian R.A. Derrick as the “direct agnate descendants of a single kalou-vu” (deified ancestor), who is supposed to arrived with the legendary Lutunasobasoba migration. The Yavusa, therefore, are the descendants of a single original member of the migration. Chiefly succession was from older brother to younger brother, after the death of their father. When the youngest brother died, the eldest son of the eldest brother became chief. This tradition still influences Fijian society today, though less rigidly: there is more of a tendency nowadays towards primogeniture.

Each brother in the family then formed his own branch of the yavusa, called the Mataqali. Each mataqali became the custodian of a specific task. A fully developed Yavusa has several mataqali:
Turaga : This mataqali descends from the original ancestor through primogeniture - inheritance of the eldest son in each succeeding generation. The chief of a village is always chosen from the Turaga mataqali.
Sauturaga : These are next in rank to the chiefs, support him, and enforce his commands.
Mata ni vanua : These form the official heralds of the village. They are also in charge of ceremonial functions.
Bete : This was the traditional priestly class. The kalou-vu was believed to speak through the Bete.
Bati : This mataqali forms the traditional warrior class.

The mataqali are subdivided into Tokatoka, each comprising closely related families.
Several Yavusa comprise a village, several of which form a district. The British colonial rulers amalgamated the districts into Yasana, or Provinces. The districts also form three Matanitu, or Confederacies. These are often said to be agglomerations of provinces, but as the latter were a colonial imposition, the boundaries do not coincide exactly, and the Provinces of Ba and Ra are each split between two Confederacies.

The Kubuna Confederacy covers Tailevu, Bau, and Verata, on the south east side of the main island of Viti Levu. This Confederacy is traditionally considered to be the most senior. The other two are Burebasaga (covering the rest of Viti Levu), and Tovata, covering Vanua Levu, the Lau Islands, and the Lomaiviti archipelago. Despite its isolation and relatively small size, Tovata has been politically dominant since Fiji gained its independence in 1970.

Music and dancing

An indigenous art form is the Meke, which may incorporate the seasea (women’s fan dance) or a make wesi (men’s spear dance). It is usually a narrative of an important event such as a war, a chiefly installation, or even a scandal. Some mekes are generations old, and form an important part of Fiji’s oral history. In olden times, the meke was considered to be an oracle from the gods, and the Dau ni vucu, or composer, would often go into a trance before a performance. Others are modern, composed for a particular event, much as a poet laureate might write a poem to celebrate an event in a Western country. Each district of Fiji has its own form of meke, performed in the local dialect.

Costume

The traditional attire was loin cloths for men and grass skirts for women. Skirts were short for single women, and long for married women, with girls wearing virgin locks before marriage. Most had the lower parts of their bodies decorated with tattoos. Chiefs dressed more elaborately.

Modern Fiji’s national dress is the sulu, which resembles a skirt. It is commonly worn by both men and women. Many are elaborately decorated with patterns and designs. Many men, especially in urban areas, also have sulus tailored as part of their suit. Many will wear a shirt with a western-style collar, tie, and jacket, with a matching sulu and sandals. Even the military uniforms have incorporated the sulu as part of their ceremonial dress. Trousers are rarely worn by indigenous Fijian men.

Women usually wear a multi-layered Tapa cloth on formal occasions. A blouse made of cotton, silk, or satin, of often worn on top. On special occasions, women often wear a tapa sheath across the chest, rather than a blouse. On other occasions, women may be dressed in a chamba, also known as a sulu I ra, a sulu with a specially crafted top.

There are many regional variations throughout Fiji. Residents of the village of Dama, in Bua Province, wear finely woven mats called kuta, made from a reed.

Men of chiefly rank usually wear a piece of brown masi around their arms or their waist. Chiefs may also decorate their hair with sandalwood dust.

Yaqona

Kava, known in Fiji as Yaqona, is Fiji’s national drink. Traditionally, it was used only in important ceremonies. Nowadays, it is a social beverage. There is a strict protocol associated with yaqona drinking. One should clap once, clasping the hands, take the cup, and drink the yaqona in a single mouthful, before returning the cup to the bearer, clapping three times, and saying the word maca (pronounced: maÞa).

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Religion is one of the faultlines between indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians, with the former overwhelmingly Christian (99.2 % at the 1996 census), and the latter mostly Hindu (76.7 %) or Muslim (15.9 %).

The largest Christian denomination is the Methodist Church. With 36.2 % of the total population (including almost two-thirds of ethnic Fijians), its share of the population is higher in Fiji than in any other nation. Roman Catholics (8.9 %), the Assemblies of God (4 %), and Seventh-day Adventists (2.9 %) are also significant. These and other denominations also have small numbers of Indo-Fijian members; Christians of all kinds comprise 6.1 % of the Indo-Fijian population.

Hindus belong mostly to the Sanatan sect (74.3 % of all Hindus) or else are unspecified (22 %). The small Arya Samaj sect claims the membership of some 3.7 % of all Hindus in Fiji. Muslims are mostly Sunni (59.7 %) or unspecified (36.7 %), with an Ahmadiya minority (3.6 %) regarded as heretical by more orthodox Muslims.

The Sikh religion comprises 0.9 % of the Indo-Fijian population, or 0.4 % of the national population in Fiji. Their ancestors came from the Punjab region of India

Three official languages are prescribed by the constitution: English, which was introduced by the former British colonial rulers, Bau Fijian, spoken by ethnic Fijians, and Hindustani, the main language spoken by Indo-Fijians. Citizens of Fiji have the constitutional right to communicate with any government agency in any of the official languages, with an interpreter to be supplied on request.

The use of English is one of the most enduring legacies of almost a century of British rule. Widely spoken by both ethnic Fijians and Indo-Fijians, English is the main medium of communication between the two communities, as well as with the outside world. It is the language in which the government conducts most of its business, and is the main language of education, commerce, and the courts.

Fijian belongs to the Austronesian family of languages. Fijian proper is closely related to the Polynesian languages, such as Tongan. There are many dialects, but the official standard is the speech of Bau, the most politically and militarily powerful of the many indigenous kingdoms of the 19th Century.

“Hindustani” is considered an umbrella term in India for the standard languages Hindi (preferred by Hindus) and Urdu (preferred by Muslims), as well as many closely related tongues that are sometimes considered separate languages. Fijian Hindustani descends from one of the eastern forms of Hindustani, called Awadhi. It has developed some unique features that differentiate it from the Awadhi spoken on the Indian subcontinent, although not to the extent of hindering mutual understanding. It is spoken by nearly the entire Indo-Fijian community regardless of ancestry, except for a few elders.

In addition to the three official languages, several other languages are spoken. On the island of Rotuma, Rotuman is used; this is more closely related to the Polynesian languages than to Fijian. Some Fijian dialects, especially in the west of the country, differ markedly from the official Bau standard, and would be considered separate languages if they had a codified grammar or a literary tradition. Among the Indo-Fijian community, there is a small Gujarati-speaking community, and a few older Indo-Fijians still speak Telugu and Tamil, with smaller numbers of Bihari, Bengali, and others.

In the Fijian alphabet, some of the letters have unusual values. For one, the “c” is a voiced “th” sound, [ð]. (For example, the name of Fiji-born New Zealand rugby player Joe Rokocoko is often mis-pronounced. The correct pronunciation is IPA: [r?k?'ð?k?].) Another difference is that the letters “b” and “d” are always pronounced with a nasal before them, [mb, nd], even at the beginning of a word. The “q” is pronounced like a “g” with a nasal “ng” before it, [?g] as in the word “finger”, while the “g” is pronounced like the “ng” of the word “singer”, [?].

Indigenous Fijians are a mixture of Polynesian and Melanesian, resulting from the original migrations to the South Pacific many centuries ago. The Indo-Fijian population has grown rapidly from the 61,000 indentured laborers brought from India between 1879 and 1916 to work in the sugarcane fields. Thousands more Indians migrated voluntarily in the 1920s and 1930s and formed the core of Fiji’s business class.

The native Fijians live throughout the country, while the Indo-Fijians reside primarily near the urban centers and in the cane-producing areas of the two main islands. Nearly all of the indigenous Fijians are Christian, with some two-thirds being Methodist. Some 77 percent of the Indo-Fijians are Hindu, with a further 16 percent being Muslim and 6 percent Christian. There are also a few Sikhs.

A national census is supposed to be conducted every ten years. The last was held in 1996, but the census intended for 2006 has been postponed till 2007. Finance Minister Ratu Jone Kubuabola announced on 27 October 2005 that the Cabinet had decided that it would not be in the country’s interest to have a census and a general election in the same year.

“Peoples’ focus on the elections could have an impact on their cooperation with census officials,” he said. The Statistics Office supported Kubuabola’s announcement, saying that public interest in the general election would likely distract people’s attention from the census, making it problematic to conduct.

Endowed with forest, mineral, and fish resources, Fiji is one of the most developed of the Pacific island economies, though it remains a developing country with a large subsistence agriculture sector. Agriculture accounts for 18 % of Gross Domestic Product, although it employs some 70 % of the workforce as of 2001. Sugar exports and a growing tourist industry are the major sources of foreign exchange. Sugar cane processing makes up one-third of industrial activity; coconuts, ginger, and copra are also significant. The country’s tallest building is the 14-story Reserve Bank of Fiji Building in Suva.

Development plan

In September 2002, the government announced a 20-year development plan. Among other things, it aims to give indigenous Fijians a great stake in the economy. The plan envisages tax-relief to businesses owned or managed by ethnic Fijians, along with greater protection for indigenous land and fishery rights.

A major aim of the Fijian government is to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production. Cattle farming, fishing, and forestry (especially pine trees) are being encouraged in order to diversify the economy; the leading manufacturing industries involve the processing of primary products.

On 14 April 2005, the Cabinet approved Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase’s proposal to develop a biofuels industry. Under the plan, ethanol is to be developed as a complement to the sugar industry, with the hope of alleviating Fiji’s dependence on imported fossil fuels such as petrol.

On 15 August, Qarase said that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had granted assistance to Fiji to develop its biofuels project. Transformation of the Fiji Sugar Corporation into an energy and sugar company would result in a turnover of F$1 billion by 2025, he said, and would cut imports of crude oil, generate export earnings, and provide a source of electricity. Energy could be produced from copra, forest, and agricultural products, as well as sugar. He touted the scheme as necessary for diversifying and strengthening the sugar industry for its own survival and the nation’s economic good. He said that the government of India had loaned F$86 million for the upgrading of Fiji’s sugar mills, which would be completed in time for the 2007-2008 crushing season.

On 28 December 2005, John Teiwa of the Coconut Industry Development Authority announced that a 20-year plan for the coconut industry would be launched in 2006. Finance from international investors, including the government of India, would be sought to develop the processing of virgin and extra virgin coconut oil, with a view to venturing into foreign health markets. The government expected an annual profit of F$120 million from the venture, Fiji Village reported. Trials for the generation of fuel from coconut oil were also in progress, Teiwa said.

Tourism

Tourism has expanded rapidly since the early 1980s and is the leading economic activity in the islands. More than 409,000 people visited Fiji in 1999 (excluding cruise ship passengers). About one-quarter came from Australia, with large contingents also coming from New Zealand, Japan, the United States and United Kingdom Over 62,000 of the tourists were American, a number that has steadily increased since the start of regularly scheduled nonstop air service from Los Angeles.

Tourism earned more than $300 million in foreign exchange for Fiji in 1998, an amount exceeding the revenue from its two largest goods exports (sugar and garments). The effects of the Asian financial crisis led to a sharp drop in the number of Asian tourists visiting Fiji in 1997 and 1998, which contributed to a substantial drop in gross domestic product. Positive growth returned in 1999, however, aided by a 20% devaluation of the Fijian dollar. 2005 was a record year for the tourism sector, with 9% growth according to Viliame Gavoka, Chief Executive of the Fiji Visitors Bureau.

Trade

Fiji runs a persistently large trade deficit. Imports in 1998 accounted for US$721 million, and exports for US$510 million, resulting in a US$116 million deficit. Tourism revenue yields a services surplus, however, which keeps the current account of its balance of payments roughly in balance ($13 million in 1998). Australia accounts for between 35% and 45% of Fiji’s trade, with New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan varying year-by-year between 5% and 15% each.

Foodstuffs, machinery, mineral fuels, beverages, tobacco, and manufactured goods are the principal imports. The two largest exports are sugar and garments, which each accounted for approximately one-quarter of export revenue in 1998 (roughly $122 million each). The sugar industry suffered in 1997 due to low world prices and rent disputes between farmers and landowners, and again in 1998 from drought, but recovered in 1999. The Fijian garment industry has developed rapidly since the introduction of tax exemptions in 1988. The industry’s output has increased nearly ten-fold since that time. Fish, lumber, molasses, coconut oil and ginger are also important exports, although the last two are in decline. Forestry became important as an export trade in the mid-1980s, when the pine plantations planted in the 1950s and 1960s began to mature. Gold and silver are also exported.

Australia’s Trade Commissioner Ross Bray revealed on 26 January 2006 that Fiji’s exports to Australia are achieving an annual growth rate of 5 %. More than 31,000 Australian companies were trading in the Pacific, half of them in Fiji, Bray said.

Investment

The government’s policy of awarding tax concessions to large multinational companies investing in Fiji has not proved universally popular. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has criticized it, saying that the concessions have been abused and have not generated long-term investment. The 2005 report of the ADB accused foreign entrepreneurs of leaving as soon as their concessions expired, and alleged that administration of the concessions encouraged corruption and bribery.

Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry joined the ADB on 31 December 2005, saying that foreign companies repatriated much of the profit made in Fiji, rather than investing it locally, while taking advantage of the infrastructure funded by Fijian taxpayers without paying any taxes themselves. This discriminated against local businesses, he claimed.

Economic problems

Fiji’s economic difficulties have been compounded by the effects of three coups over the last two decades.

Emigration

Since 1987, when the country was destabilized by two military coups, Fiji has suffered a very high rate of emigration, particularly of skilled and professional personnel. More than 70,000 people left the country in the aftermath of the coups, some 90 % of whom were Indo-Fijians. With the continuing expiration of land leases and ongoing instability in the aftermath of another coup in 2000, a further outflow of skilled workers has taken place.

A 2004 report of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, published on 29 June 2005, found that 61 % of Fiji’s skilled workers have either emigrated or gone abroad as guestworkers. Fiji’s loss of skilled workers was the world’s fourth highest, behind Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago. Fiji’s Bureau of Statistics recorded 3595 workers as having left the country between January and August 2004. Of these, 414 held professional or technical jobs, 263 were in administrative or managerial positions, and were clerks, supervisors, or related workers, and 118 were sales workers. Indo-Fijians comprised more than 90 % of those leaving.

Property laws and investment problems

Low investment rates and uncertain property rights are long-term problems (by law, five sixths of the land is owned communally by indigenous Fijians and may be leased to others, but many of the leases are now expiring). In recent times, the government has been reviewing investment laws and relaxing work permit requirements, in order to encourage foreign investment.

Fiji’s growth slowed in 1997 because the sugar industry suffered from low world prices and rent disputes between farmers and landowners, a sensitive issue in Fijian politics, with 83.2 % of the land held in inalienable rights by indigenous Fijians. Only 8.2 % is freehold, with 5 % government-owned and 3.6 % state freehold.

Natural disasters

Drought in 1998 further damaged the sugar industry, but its recovery in 1999 contributed to robust GDP growth. Further damage to the economy (estimated at US$30 million) was wrought by a cyclone that hit the northern island of Vanua Levu in January 2003. Apart from the economic devastation, there were food shortages and outbreaks of disease due to the pollution of the water supply.

Tourism woes

The aftermath of the political turmoil in 2000 resulted in a 10-percent shrinkage in the economy, as investor confidence plummeted and tourist numbers dropped sharply. An estimated 7500 jobs were lost. There has been a gradual recovery since 2001, when the 1997 constitution was restored and free elections held. The possibility of a return to a racially discriminatory constitution led to fears that Fiji might forfeit its preferential arrangements with the European Union for its sugar exports, and with Australia for its clothing industry, but those fears have largely (but not entirely) subsided.
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Fiji is a group of volcanic islands in the South Pacific, lying about 4,450 km (2,775 mi) southwest of Honolulu and 1,770 km (1,100 mi) north of New Zealand. Of the 322 islands and 522 smaller islets making up the archipelago, about 106 are permanently inhabited. Viti Levu, the largest island, covers about 57 % of the nation’s land area, hosts the two official cities (the capital Suva, and Lautoka) and most other major towns, such as Ba, Nasinu, and Nadi (the site of the international airport), and contains some 69 % of the population. Vanua Levu, 64 km to the north of Viti Levu, covers just over 30 % of the land area and is home to some 15 % of the population. Its main towns are Labasa and Savusavu.

Both islands are mountainous, with peaks up to 1300 m rising abruptly from the shore, and covered with tropical forests. Heavy rains (up to 304 cm or 120 in annually) fall on the windward (southeastern) side, covering these sections of the islands with dense tropical forest. Lowlands on the western portions of each of the main islands are sheltered by the mountains and have a well-marked dry season favorable to crops such as sugarcane.

Other islands and island groups, which cover just 2.5 % of the land area but house some 16 % of the population, include Taveuni and Kadavu (the third and fourth largest islands respectively), the Mamanuca Group (just outside Nadi) and Yasawa Group (to the north of the Mamanucas), which are popular tourist destinations, the Lomaiviti Group, outside of Suva, and the remote Lau Group. The only major town on any of the smaller islands is Levuka, Fiji’s old capital, on the island of Ovalau.

More than half of Fiji’s population lives on the island coasts, either in Suva or in smaller urban centers. The interior is sparsely populated due to its rough terrain.

Fiji is divided administratively into four divisions, which are further subdivided into fourteen provinces. 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. Each province has a provincial council which may make bylaws and impose rates (local taxes), subject to the approval of the Fijian Affairs Board, a government department. The board must also approve the appointment of the Roko Tui, or executive head of the provincial council, who is usually a high chief, although in recent years, commoners have sometimes been chosen.

The provinces have direct input into national affairs through the Great Council of Chiefs and the Senate. The Great Council of Chiefs is a traditional body which advises the government on indigenous affairs and also functions as an electoral college to elect the President and Vice-President; 42 of the 55 members of the Great Council are chosen by the provincial councils, 3 from each province. In addition, 14 of the 32 members of the Senate, the upper house of the Fijian Parliament, are chosen by the provincial councils (one Senator each) and confirmed by the Great Council of Chiefs.

Additionally, the island of Rotuma, north of the main archipelago, has the status of a dependency. The government includes it in the Eastern Division for statistical purposes (such as the census), but administratively it enjoys a degree of internal autonomy and has its own council which is empowered to legislate on most local matters. Like a province, Rotuma chooses (through its council) 3 members of the Great Council of Chiefs and 1 Senator.

Below the provincial level, districts and villages, based on extended family networks, have their own chiefs and councils. Indigenous Fijian administration is based on the koro, or village, headed by a Turaga ni Koro elected or appointed by the villagers. Several koros combine to form a Tikina, two or more of which comprise a province. In addition, municipal governments have been established for the cities of Suva and Lautoka, and for ten towns. Each has a city or town council elected for a three-year term, presided over by a Mayor chosen by the councillors from among their own members. Local authorities have also been established for rural areas. On 15 February 2006 the government announced legislation to change the local government term of office from three years to four.

Politics of Fiji takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Fiji is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament of Fiji. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Fiji ’s Head of State is the President. He is elected by the Great Council of Chiefs, after consulting with the Prime Minister, for a five-year term. Although his role is largely an honorary one, modelled after that of the British monarchy, the President has certain “reserve powers” that may be used in the event of a national crisis. In practice, attempts by the President to assert the reserve powers have proved problematic. In 2000, in the midst of a civilian coup d’etat against the elected government, President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara announced on 27 May that he was assuming executive authority, but was evidently forced to resign two days by the military commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama.

The President is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Actual executive power is in the hands of the Cabinet, presided over by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is formally appointed by the President, but must be acceptable to a majority of the House of Representatives. In practice, this usually reduces the President’s role to little more than a formality, with the position automatically going to the leader of the political party or coalition that controls a majority of seats.

There have been times, however, when there has been no clear majority in the House of Representatives. The parliamentary election of 1992 was inconclusive, and the position of the largest party, the Fijian Political Party, was further undermined by subsequent defections. On such occasions, the President takes on the role of an arbitrator. After consulting with all the parliamentary factions, he appoints as Prime Minister the person he judges to be the most acceptable to the majority in the House of Representatives. If no such person can be found, the President is required to order a new election.

Another situation requiring presidential intervention arose following the 1999 election. The People’s Coalition won a landslide victory; with the largest party in the coalition, the Fiji Labour Party, winning a majority in its own right. Some of the smaller parties in the coalition expressed unease at the prospect of Mahendra Chaudhry, the Labour Party leader and an Indo-Fijian, becoming Prime Minister, saying that he would be unacceptable to indigenous Fijian voters that they represented. President Mara, however, persuaded them to accept Chaudhry as Prime Minister.

The Cabinet, consisting of around ten to twenty five ministers, is formally appointed by the President on the nomination of the Prime Minister. According to the constitution, the Cabinet is supposed to reflect the political composition of the House of Representatives, with every party holding more than 8 seats in the House entitled to proportionate representation in the Cabinet. In practice, this rule has never been strictly implemented.

In 1999, Chaudhry refused to give ministerial posts to the Fijian Political Party, saying that its demands were unacceptable. From 2001 to 2004, Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, whose coalition dominated by his Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua had narrowly won the 2001 election, refused to include the Fiji Labour Party in his cabinet, and avoided implementing several subsequent Supreme Court verdicts ordering him to do so by appealing each successive verdict, until the Labour Party announced late in 2004 that it was no longer interested in joining the cabinet.

Legislative branch

Fiji’s Parliament consists of two houses. The more powerful of the two chambers, the House of Representatives, has 71 members, elected for five-year terms. 25 are elected by universal suffrage. The remaining 46 are reserved for Fiji’s ethnic communities and are elected from communal electoral rolls: 23 Fijians, 19 Indo-Fijians, 1 Rotuman, and 3 “General electors” (Europeans, Chinese, and other minorities). The House chooses a List of Speakers of the House of Representatives, who is not allowed to be a present member of the House.

The “upper chamber,” the Senate, is primarily a house of review: it may not initiate legislation, but may amend or reject it. The 32 Senators are formally appointed by the President on the nomination of the Great Council of Chiefs (14), the Prime Minister (9), the Leader of the Opposition (8), and the Council of Rotuma (1). Senators as well as Representatives may serve as Cabinet Ministers.

The Attorney General, Fiji’s top legal official who sits in the Cabinet, is the only member of Parliament permitted to attend sessions of both chambers. The Attorney General has voting rights only in the chamber to which he or she was elected or appointed, but is authorized to attend and participate in debates in the other chamber.

Judicial branch

Fiji maintains an independent judiciary, with judicial power vested in three courts (the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court) established by the Constitution, which also makes provision for other courts to be set up by Parliament; Magistrate Courts have accordingly been set up. The High Court and the Supreme Court are both presided over by the Chief Justice (currently Daniel Fatiaki); the Chief Justice is barred, however, from membership of the Court of Appeal, which has its own President (currently Gordon Ward).

The Appeal Court, which did not exist prior to the 1997 Constitution, has the power “to hear and determine appeals” from judgements of the High Court; decisions of this court may be further appealed to the Supreme Court, whose decision is final. The judiciary managed to maintain its independence from political control in the aftermath of the coups of 1987. Following the 2000 coup, however, its integrity was compromised, in the eye of many, when three judges (including Fatiaki) advised then-President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara to abrogate the constitution. Mara refused and resigned; a military administration replaced him.

Then-Chief Justice recognized the military government, triggering widespread disappointment to those who had seen the judiciary as a model of independence. On 15 November 2000, however, the High Court forced the reinstatement of the 1997 Constitution, which had been abrogated in June following the forced resignation of President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara on 29 May.

Local government

There are four administrative divisions (Central, Eastern, Northern and Western), each under the charge of a Commissioner appointed by the central government. The divisions are further subdivided into fourteen provinces, each of which has a Provincial Council. In addition, the island of Rotuma has the status of a dependency, and enjoys a degree of internal autonomy, with its own island council.

Ethnic Fijians have their own administration in which councils preside over a hierarchy of provinces, districts, and villages. The councils deal with all matters affecting ethnic Fijians. The 55-member Great Council of Chiefs (Bose Levu Vakaturaga in Fijian) includes 3 representatives from each of Fiji’s 14 provinces and 1 dependency, 3 ex-officio members (the President, Vice-President, and Prime Minister), and 6 government appointees; former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is a life-member.

The Great Council of Chiefs advises the government, and also functions as an electoral college to appoint the President of the Republic, as well as 14 of the 32 Senators. This prerogative of the Council has been delegated to the 14 provincial councils, each choosing one Senator.

Suva, Lautoka, and nine other towns have municipal governments, with city or town councils, each chaired by a Mayor. These are responsible for the local affairs of all citizens, and are elected by universal suffrage.

Political conditions

In April 1970, a constitutional conference in London agreed that Fiji should become a fully sovereign and independent nation within the Commonwealth of Nations. Fiji became independent on October 10 of that year.

Post-independence politics came to be dominated by Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara and the Alliance Party, which commanded the support of the traditional Fijian chiefs, along with leading elements of the European and part-European communities, and some Indo-Fijians. The main parliamentary opposition, the National Federation Party, represented mainly rural Indo-Fijians. Intercommunal relations were managed without serious confrontation. A short-lived constitutional crisis developed after the parliamentary election of March 1977, when the Indian-led National Federation Party (NFP) won a narrow majority of seats in the House of Representatives, but failed to form a government due to internal leadership problems, as well as concerns among some of its members that indigenous Fijians would not accept Indo-Fijian leadership.

The NFP splintered in a leadership brawl three days after the election; in a controversial move, the Governor General, Ratu Sir George Cakobau, called on the defeated Mara to form an interim government, pending a second election to resolve the impasse. This was held in September that year, and saw Mara’s Alliance Party returned with a record majority of 36 parliamentary seats out of 52. The majority of the Alliance Party was reduced in the election of 1982, but with 28 seats out of 52, Mara retained power. Mara proposed a “government of national unity” - a grand coalition between his Alliance Party and the NFP, but the NFP leader, Jai Ram Reddy, rejected this.

The Coups of 1987

In April 1987, a coalition led by Dr Timoci Bavadra, an ethnic Fijian who was nevertheless supported mostly by the Indo-Fijian community, won the general election and formed Fiji’s first majority Indian government, with Dr Bavadra serving as Prime Minister. After less than a month in office, Dr Bavadra was forcibly removed from power during a military coup led by Lt. Col. Sitiveni Rabuka on 14 May 1987.

After a period of continued jockeying and negotiation, Rabuka staged a second coup on September 25, 1987. The military government revoked the constitution and declared Fiji a republic on October 10, the seventeenth anniversary of Fiji’s independence from the United Kingdom. This action, coupled with protests by the government of India, led to Fiji’s expulsion from the Commonwealth and official nonrecognition of the Rabuka regime by foreign governments, including Australia and New Zealand. On December 6, Rabuka resigned as Head of State, and the former Governor-General, Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, was appointed the first President of the Fijian Republic. Mara was reappointed Prime Minister, and Rabuka became Minister of Home Affairs.
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