Prime Minister of Fiji

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji is the head of government of Fiji. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President under the terms of the 2013 Constitution of Fiji.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji
Coat of arms of the Republic of Fiji
Incumbent Frank Bainimarama since 5 January 2007
Style	The Right Honourable
Seat	Government Buildings, Suva
Appointer	President of Fiji
Inaugural holder	Kamisese Mara
Formation	10 October 1970
Salary	FJ$ 328,750 annually[1]
Website	http://www.pmoffice.gov.fj/

Description of the office

As a former British colony, Fiji has largely adopted British political models and follows the Westminster, or Cabinet, system of government, in which the executive branch of government is responsible to the legislature. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, but must be supported, or at least accepted, by a majority in the House of Representatives. If at any time the Prime Minister loses the "confidence" of the House, he must resign, along with the entire Cabinet. In practice, this usually reduces the Prime Minister's appointment to a formality, as the parliamentary leader of the majority political party or coalition is invariably appointed. If, however, no such majority party or coalition exists, whether due to electoral fragmentation or to party realignments after an election, the President's role becomes much more important. The President must endeavour to find a candidate acceptable to a majority in the House; if no such candidate can be found, the President must dissolve Parliament and call an election prematurely.

The Prime Minister of Fiji is technically the "first among equals," whose vote in meetings of the Cabinet carries no greater weight than that of any other minister. In practice, the Prime Minister dominates the government. Other Ministers are appointed by the President, but on the Prime Minister's advice, and may be dismissed by him at any time (although his control over ministerial appointments may be tempered by the realities of coalition politics: the leader or leaders of coalition partners may insist on having a say in the matter too).

History of the office

Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara was appointed Fiji's first Prime Minister on 10 October 1970, when Fiji attained its independence from Britain. Mara previously served as Fiji's first an only Chief Minister, from 20 September 1967 (while Fiji still was a British colony). Mara's first term as Prime Minister lasted until 13 April 1987. He returned to the office for the second term on 5 December 1987, serving until 2 June 1992. As of 2014, Mara is the longest-serving Prime Minister of Fiji.

List of Prime Ministers of Fiji (1970–present)

No.	Portrait	Prime Minister	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Party	Election	Head of State
Prime Ministers of the Dominion of Fiji
1		Mara, KamiseseRatu Sir Kamisese Mara (1920–2004)	10 October 1970	13 April 1987	16 years, 185 days	Alliance	1972 1977 (Mar) 1977 (Sep) 1982	Elizabeth II
2		Bavadra, TimociTimoci Bavadra (1934–1989)	13 April 1987	14 May 1987	31 days	Labour	1987	Elizabeth II
Vacant (14 May 1987 – 5 December 1987)[lower-alpha 1]
Prime Ministers of the Republic of Fiji
(1)		Mara, KamiseseRatu Sir Kamisese Mara (1920–2004) [lower-alpha 2]	5 December 1987	2 June 1992	4 years, 180 days	Independent	—	Penaia Ganilau
3		Rabuka, SitiveniMajor general (Rtd) Sitiveni Rabuka (born 1948)	2 June 1992	19 May 1999	6 years, 351 days	SVT	1992 1994	Penaia Ganilau Kamisese Mara
4		Chaudhry, MahendraMahendra Chaudhry (born 1942)	19 May 1999	27 May 2000	1 year, 8 days	Labour	1999	Kamisese Mara
5		Momoedonu, TevitaRatu Tevita Momoedonu (born 1941) [lower-alpha 3]	27 May 2000	27 May 2000	0 days	Labour	—	Kamisese Mara
Vacant (27 May 2000 – 4 July 2000)[lower-alpha 1]
6		Qarase, LaiseniaLaisenia Qarase (1941–2020) [lower-alpha 4]	4 July 2000	14 March 2001	253 days	Independent	—	Frank Bainimarama Josefa Iloilo
–		Momoedonu, TevitaRatu Tevita Momoedonu (born 1941) Acting	14 March 2001	16 March 2001	2 days	Labour	—	Josefa Iloilo
(6)		Qarase, LaiseniaLaisenia Qarase (1941–2020)	16 March 2001	5 December 2006	5 years, 264 days	SDL	2001 2006	Josefa Iloilo
–		Senilagakali, JonaDr. Jona Senilagakali (1929–2011) Acting [lower-alpha 5]	5 December 2006	4 January 2007	30 days	Independent	—	Frank Bainimarama
–		Bainimarama, FrankCommodore Frank Bainimarama (born 1954) Acting [lower-alpha 6]	5 January 2007	22 September 2014	7 years, 260 days	RFMF	—	Josefa Iloilo Epeli Nailatikau
8		Bainimarama, FrankCommodore (Rtd) Frank Bainimarama (born 1954)	22 September 2014	Incumbent	5 years, 320 days	FijiFirst	2014 2018	Epeli Nailatikau Jioji Konrote

See also

• List of heads of state of Fiji
• President of Fiji

Notes

1. Two military coups in 1987 and a civilian coup d'état in 2000 left Fiji without a Prime Minister each time.
2. Mara's party, the Alliance Party, was dissolved in the wake of the 1987 coups, so he was effectively a non-partisan Prime Minister in his last term.
3. Ratu Momoedonu was appointed Prime Minister on 27 May 2000, by the then-President, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, in order to meet a constitutional technicality. He resigned only a few minutes later, as soon as the technicality had been attended to, in order to allow the President to assume full executive power.
4. Qarase was not a member of a political party when he headed the interim government in 2000 and early 2001. Following his reinstatement on 16 March 2001 (after two days' absence from office), he founded the United Fiji Party to contest the general election that was to be held later that year.
5. Senilagakali was installed as Interim Prime Minister as Commodore Josaia Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama took control of the Government. He was previously a highly esteemed medical doctor, the former President of the Fijian Medical Association, and was military doctor at the time of the coup d'état in 2006.[2]
6. The Bainimarama government was dismissed as illegal by Fiji's Court of Appeal on 10 April 2009, leading to the Prime Minister's immediate resignation. He was re-appointed the next day by President Josefa Iloilo, following the latter's abrogation of the Constitution.[3][4]

References

1. Government of Fiji Gazette (3 October 2014). "PARLIAMENTARY REMUNERATIONS DECREE 2014 (DECREE NO. 29 OF 2014)" (PDF). www.parliament.gov.fj.
2. "Military now in charge in Fiji". Fiji Times. 5 December 2006. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2006.
3. "Fiji's Bainimarama steps down as PM", Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 10 April 2009
4. "Commodore Bainimarama sworn in as Prime Minister" Archived 15 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Fiji government, 11 April 2009