All Topics  
Paramount Chief of Fiji

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Paramount Chief of Fiji
 
 
  Topics Paramount Chief of Fiji Topic Home

The Paramount Chief of Fiji (Fijian:Ilisapeci-Na Radi ni Viti kei Peritania or simply Ilisapeci-Na Tui Viti) is the title given to Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known as the Commonwealth realms: Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Monarchy of Canada, Monarchy of Australia, Monarchy of New Zealand, Monarchy of Jamaica, Monarchy of Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Monarchy of the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Sain...
 in Fiji
Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of the Fiji Islands , is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean east of Vanuatu, west of Tonga and south of Tuvalu....
. The Great Council of Chiefs recognises her as the most senior chief, but the position is not one of a constitutional, or otherwise legal nature.

The Fiji coups of 1987 resulted in the overthrow of the elected government of Fijian Prime Minister Timoci Bavadra
Timoci Bavadra

Timoci Uluivuda Bavadra was a medical doctor who served for one month as the Prime Minister of Fiji in 1987 and who founded the Fiji Labour Party....
, and in the declaration of a republic.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Paramount Chief of Fiji'
Start a new discussion about 'Paramount Chief of Fiji'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The Paramount Chief of Fiji (Fijian:Ilisapeci-Na Radi ni Viti kei Peritania or simply Ilisapeci-Na Tui Viti) is the title given to Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known as the Commonwealth realms: Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Monarchy of Canada, Monarchy of Australia, Monarchy of New Zealand, Monarchy of Jamaica, Monarchy of Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Monarchy of the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Sain...
 in Fiji
Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of the Fiji Islands , is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean east of Vanuatu, west of Tonga and south of Tuvalu....
. The Great Council of Chiefs recognises her as the most senior chief, but the position is not one of a constitutional, or otherwise legal nature.

The Fiji coups of 1987 resulted in the overthrow of the elected government of Fijian Prime Minister Timoci Bavadra
Timoci Bavadra

Timoci Uluivuda Bavadra was a medical doctor who served for one month as the Prime Minister of Fiji in 1987 and who founded the Fiji Labour Party....
, and in the declaration of a republic. The first coup, in which Bavadra was deposed, took place on May 14, 1987; a second coup on September 28 ended the Fijian Crown, and was shortly followed by the proclamation of a republic on October 7.

As a Commonwealth Realm
Commonwealth Realm

A Commonwealth realm is any one of 16 Sovereignty states within the Commonwealth of Nations that each have Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as their monarch....
, Fiji's Head of State
Head of State

Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchic or republican nation-state, federation, commonwealth or any other political state....
 was the Queen of Fiji
Queen of Fiji

The title of Queen of Fiji was held by Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom between 1972 and 1987. The constitutional monarchy of Fiji was replaced by a republic following Fiji coups of 1987 carried out in 1987 by Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka....
, Elizabeth II. The Fijian Supreme Court
Supreme court

A supreme court, also called a court of last resort or high court, is in some jurisdictions the highest court within that jurisdiction's court system, whose rulings are not subject to further review by another court....
 ruled the coup unconstitutional, and the Queen's representative, Governor General
Governor-General of Fiji

Fiji became a British Crown Colony in 1874, and an independent dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations in 1970. Elizabeth II of Fiji remained the Queen of Fiji, holding the title of Queen of Fiji until 1987, when she formally abdicated following two military coups....
 Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, unsuccessfully attempted to assert executive power. He opened negotiations, known as the Deuba Talks, with both the deposed government, and the Alliance Party, which most indigenous Fijians
Fijian people

Fijian people are the major indigenous people of the Fiji, and live in an area informally called Melanesia. The Fijian people arrived in Fiji from western Melanesia approximately 3,500 years ago....
, supported. These negotiations culminated in the Deuba Accord of September 23, 1987, which provided for a government of national unity, in which both parties would be represented under the leadership of the Governor-General. Fearing that the gains of the first coup were about to be lost, Sitiveni Rabuka
Sitiveni Rabuka

Media:Major-General Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka, Order of the British Empire, Fijian honours system, Venerable Order of St John, is best known as the instigator of Fiji coups of 1987 that shook Fiji in 1987....
 staged a second coup on September 25.

The Great Council of Chiefs, a formal body of mostly hereditary chiefs, continues to recognise Elizabeth II as its Paramount Chief, as was officially confirmed by the Great Council in 1998 . The majority of the members of this Council are descendants and blood relatives of the chiefs who ceded Fiji to Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom

Victoria was from 20 June 1837 the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and from 1 May 1876 the first Empress of India of the British Raj until her death....
, Elizabeth's great-great-grandmother, in 1874. The declaration by the Great Council of Chiefs affirming Elizabeth's rights as Paramount Chief is unique, as it indicates she takes precedence within the Council over the President of the Republic of Fiji
President of Fiji

Fiji's List of Fijian Heads of State is the President of the Republic of the Fiji Islands. He or she is appointed by the Great Council of Chiefs for a five-year term....
, who again can only be selected from a chiefly house and member of the GCC.

See also


  • Tui Viti
    Tui Viti

    Tui Viti is a title which denotes Fijian royalty and translates as King of Fiji. The title is best remembered in Fiji history as it was synonymous with the ruler of the short lived Kingdom of Fiji in the person of Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau....
  • Queen of Fiji
    Queen of Fiji

    The title of Queen of Fiji was held by Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom between 1972 and 1987. The constitutional monarchy of Fiji was replaced by a republic following Fiji coups of 1987 carried out in 1987 by Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka....


External links

  • (reference to Ratu Mara's support for restoring monachy in Fiji)