The Fiji Coups
Indentured labourers brought from India by the British between 1879 and 1916 and their descendants had come to outnumber indigenous Fijians, while land remained overwhelmingly under indigenous communal ownership — a division the colonial system had entrenched and independence in 1970 had left in place. The April 1987 election displaced the long-governing indigenous-backed party with a Labour-led coalition drawing heavily on Indo-Fijian support. Rabuka's bloodless coup was justified as protecting indigenous paramountcy. A second intervention in September ended negotiations for a compromise, declared a republic and severed the link to the Crown. A 1990 constitution entrenched indigenous political control; it was replaced by a more equal one in 1997, after which further coups followed in 2000 and 2006. Large-scale Indo-Fijian emigration reduced their share of the population from a majority to around a third.
- Year: 1987 CE
- Category: Political
