conventional long form: Republic of the Fiji Islands
conventional short form: Fiji

FJ

republic
note: military coup leader Maj. Gen. Sitiveni RABUKA formally declared
Fiji a republic on 6 October 1987

Suva

4 divisions and 1 dependency*; Central,
Eastern, Northern, Rotuma*, Western

10 October 1970 (from UK)

Independence Day, 10 October (1970)

10 October 1970 (suspended 1 October 1987); a new
constitution was proposed on 23 September 1988 and promulgated on 25
July 1990; amended 25 July 1997 to allow nonethnic Fijians greater say
in government and to make multiparty government mandatory; entered
into force 28 July 1998; note - the May 1999 election was the first
test of the amended constitution and introduced open voting - not
racially prescribed - for the first time at the national level

based on British system

21 years of age; universal

chief of state: President Ratu Sir Kamisese MARA (acting president
since 15 December 1993, president since 12 January 1994); Vice
President Ratu Josefa Iloilo ULUIVUDA (since 18 January 1999)
head of government: Prime Minister Mahendra CHAUDHRY (since 18 May
1999); Deputy Prime Ministers Tupeni BABA (since NA 1999) and Adi
Kuini Vuikaba SPEED (since NA 1999)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister from among the
members of Parliament and is responsible to Parliament
note: there is also a Presidential Council that advises the president
on matters of national importance and a Great Council of Chiefs which
consists of the highest ranking members of the traditional chiefly
system
elections: president elected by the Great Council of Chiefs for a
five-year term; prime minister appointed by the president
election results: Ratu Sir Kamisese MARA elected president; percent of
Great Council of Chiefs vote - NA

bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (32
seats; 14 appointed by the Great Council of Chiefs, nine appointed by
the prime minister, eight appointed by the leader of the opposition,
and one appointed by the council of Rotuma) and the House of
Representatives (71 seats; 23 reserved for ethnic Fijians, 19 reserved
for ethnic Indians, three reserved for other ethnic groups, one
reserved for the Rotuman constituency encompassing the whole of Fiji,
and 25 open; members serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Representatives - last held 11 May 1999 (next to
be held NA May 2004)
election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party
- NA; seats by party - Fiji Labor Party 37, others 34

Supreme Court, judges are appointed by the president

Christian Fellowship Party (Veitokani
ni Lewenivanua Vakarisito Party) or VLV (primarily Methodist Fijian)
; Conservative Party of Fiji or CPF ; Fiji
Conservative Party or FCP ; Fiji Independent Labor (Muslim)
; Fiji Indian Congress Party ; Fiji Indian
Liberal Party ; Fiji Labor Party or FLP [Mahendra
CHAUDHRY]; Fijian Association Party or FAP ; Fijian
Nationalist Party or FNP ; Fijian Political Party
or SVT (primarily Fijian) ; Four Corners
Party ; General Electors' Association ;
General Voters Party or GVP ; National Federation Party or
NFP (primarily Indian) ; National Unity Party [Apisai
TORA]
note: in early 1995, ethnic Fijian members of the All National
Congress or ANC merged with the Fijian Association or FA; the
remaining members of the ANC have renamed their party the General
Electors' Association

ACP, AsDB, C, CCC, CP,
ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO,
ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, OPCW,
PCA, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM,
UNMIBH, UNMIK, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

chief of mission: Ambassador "Ratu" Napolioni MASIREWA
chancery: Suite 240, 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007
telephone:  (202) 337-8320
FAX:  (202) 337-1996

chief of mission: Ambassador Osman SIDDIQUE
embassy: 31 Loftus Street, Suva
mailing address: P. O. Box 218, Suva
telephone:  314466
FAX:  300081

light blue with the flag of the UK in the upper
hoist-side quadrant and the Fijian shield centered on the outer half
of the flag; the shield depicts a yellow lion above a white field
quartered by the cross of Saint George featuring stalks of sugarcane,
a palm tree, bananas, and a white dove