Editing Politics of Fiji (section)

=== Executive branch ===
{{office-table}}
|[[President of Fiji|President]]
|[[Naiqama Lalabalavu]]
|[[People's Alliance (Fiji)|People's Alliance]]
| 12 November 2024
|-
|[[Prime Minister of Fiji|Prime Minister]]
|[[Sitiveni Rabuka]]
|[[People's Alliance (Fiji)|People’s Alliance]]
|24 December 2022
|}

[[Fiji]]'s [[Head of State of Fiji|Head of State]] is the [[President of Fiji|President]]. He is elected by [[Parliament of Fiji]] after nomination by the [[Prime Minister of Fiji|Prime Minister]] or the [[Leader of the Opposition (Fiji)|Leader of the Opposition]], for a three-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 [[2000 Fijian coup d'état|coup d'État]] against the elected government, President [[Kamisese Mara|Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara]] announced on 27 May that he was assuming executive authority, but was evidently forced to resign two days later by the [[Republic of Fiji Military Forces|military]] Commander, [[Commodore (rank)|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 of Fiji|cabinet]], presided over by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is elected by Parliament, under the [[2013 Constitution of Fiji]].

Under the [[1997 Constitution of Fiji|former constitution]], which [[2009 Fijian constitutional crisis|was abrogated]] at the behest of the Military-backed interim government in 2009, the Prime Minister was formally appointed by the President, but had to be acceptable to a majority of the [[House of Representatives of Fiji|House of Representatives]]. In practice, this usually reduced the President's role to little more than a formality, with the position automatically going to the leader of the [[List of political parties in Fiji|political party]] or [[Coalition government|coalition]] that controlled a majority of seats.

There were times, however, when there was no clear majority in the House of Representatives. The [[1992 Fijian general election|parliamentary election]] of 1992 was inconclusive, and the position of the largest party, the [[Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei]], was further undermined by subsequent defections. On such occasions, the President had to take on the role of an arbitrator. After consulting with all the parliamentary factions, he would appoint as Prime Minister the person he judged to be the most acceptable to the majority in the House of Representatives. If no such person could be found, the President was required to order a new [[Elections in Fiji|election]].

Another situation requiring Presidential intervention arose following the [[1999 Fijian general election|1999 election]]. The [[People's Coalition (Fiji)|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 [[Indians in Fiji|Indo-Fijian]], becoming Prime Minister, saying that he would be unacceptable to [[Fijians|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 [[Cabinet Minister|Ministers]], is formally appointed by the President on the nomination of the Prime Minister.

According to the former 1997 constitution, the cabinet was 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 was never strictly implemented. In 1999, Chaudhry refused to give Ministerial posts to the [[Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei]] (SVT), 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 Fijian general election|2001 election]], refused to include the Fiji Labour Party in his cabinet, and avoided implementing several subsequent [[Supreme Court of Fiji|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. Under the 2013 Constitution, the Cabinet is no longer required to reflect the political composition of Parliament.

The [[FijiFirst]] party, led by Prime Minister [[Frank Bainimarama]], won outright majority in the country’s 51-seat parliament both in 2014 [[2014 Fijian general election|election]] and narrowly in 2018 [[2018 Fijian general election|election]].<ref>{{cite news |agency=Australian Associated Press |title=Fiji election: Bainimarama returned as PM in slim victory |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/18/fiji-election-bainimarama-returned-as-pm-in-slim-victory |work=the Guardian |date=18 November 2018 |language=en}}</ref> In October 2021, Tui Macuata Ratu Wiliame Katonivere was elected the new [[President of Fiji]] by the parliament.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ligaiula |first1=Pita |title=Ratu Wiliame Katonivere is Fiji’s new President {{!}} PINA |url=https://pina.com.fj/2021/10/22/ratu-wiliame-katonivere-is-fijis-new-president/}}</ref>

On 24 December 2022, [[Sitiveni Rabuka]], the head of the [[People's Alliance (Fiji)|People’s Alliance]] (PAP), became Fiji’s 12th prime minister, succeeding Bainimarama, following the December 2022 [[2022 Fijian general election|general election]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Sitiveni ‘Rambo’ Rabuka confirmed as Fiji’s new prime minister |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/12/24/sitiveni-rambo-rabuka-confirmed-as-fijis-new-prime-minister |work=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}</ref>