{"id":87268,"date":"2024-06-04T17:59:28","date_gmt":"2024-06-04T07:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=87268"},"modified":"2024-06-04T17:59:28","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T07:59:28","slug":"now-an-opposition-split-worsens-fijis-political-instability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/now-an-opposition-split-worsens-fijis-political-instability\/","title":{"rendered":"Now an opposition split worsens Fiji\u2019s political instability"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Fijian politics, already suffering from a risk that the governing coalition could fall apart, now faces the further danger that the opposition party, which would lead an alternative government, is also suffering a severe split.<\/p>\n

Leaders of that party, FijiFirst, rather than reconciling with 17 disobedient MPs and thereby preserving the party as an alternative government, are trying to get rid of them so they can be replaced with loyalists.<\/p>\n

A dispute over a pay rise for members of parliament is threatening the three-party coalition led by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and his People\u2019s Alliance party. His treasurer and deputy prime minister, Biman Prasad, who leads the National Federation Party, opposed the rise. The People\u2019s Alliance needs Prasad\u2019s party, but Rabuka\u2019s uncompromising dealings with it are raising the risk of a split.<\/p>\n

The opposition party, FijiFirst, should be well placed to take over, since, with 26 MPs, it is only two short of a majority in parliament, but it is split by the same issue. The 17 MPs disobeyed a leadership instruction to vote against the pay rise. If the leadership fails in trying to throw them out of parliament, the party will be split and in no position to achieve a majority.<\/p>\n

Frank Bainimarama, instigator of a 2006 military coup and prime minister of the post- coup government, founded FijiFirst in 2014 with a platform of ethnic inclusiveness. Rabuka\u2019s government has leant towards Fijian indigenous nationalism since coming to power, reminiscent of his agenda when he led a coup in 1987.<\/p>\n

Bainimarama is at a serious disadvantage in preserving his legacy as he is serving a one-year jail sentence for perverting the course of justice<\/a>, although he remains a member of the party\u2019s powerful Leadership Committee, which has the final say on party policy.<\/p>\n

Fiji\u2019s constitution and related legislation give a privileged position to political party machinery, even letting party apparatchiks regulate membership of parliament.<\/p>\n

The party has two means of ejecting the 17 disobedient MPs from parliament so it can replace them with 17 obedient ones and preserve itself as a unified bloc. Under the constitution, MPs can lose their seats either by failing to follow a party direction or by losing their party memberships. The FijiFirst leadership seems to be trying to use both grounds, but it is likely to have to go through some appeal process before finally succeeding, if indeed it can succeed.<\/p>\n

The constitution says \u2018if the member votes or abstains from voting in Parliament contrary to any direction issued by the political party\u2019 his or her seat becomes vacant. But this takes effect only when the speaker has received written notification signed by both the party\u2019s leader and its secretary.<\/p>\n

FijiFirst\u2019s party constitution doesn\u2019t create a position of \u2018leader\u2019, though it does provide for a president, a general secretary and a parliamentary leader.<\/p>\n

The party\u2019s notification to the speaker was signed by Acting General Secretary Faiyaz Koya and by Bainimarama\u2014who doesn\u2019t have any of the formal positions. Koya and his predecessor have asserted that Bainimarama is still the \u2018leader\u2019, but on what legal basis?<\/p>\n

FijiFirst President Ratu Joji Satakala might be regarded as the leader, and he supported the expulsion, but he didn\u2019t sign. The parliamentary leader,\u00a0Inia Seruiratu, obviously wouldn\u2019t sign, because he\u2019s one of the targeted MPs.<\/p>\n

So this matter is likely to go to the High Court of Fiji in its capacity as the Court of Disputed Returns, with the meaning of \u2018leader\u2019 as the key issue.<\/p>\n

As for cancelling party membership\u2014the second means of expelling the MPs from parliament\u2014the constitution requires that the process to be \u2018in accordance with the rules of the political party’. The rebellious MPs dispute that party rules have been followed.<\/p>\n

The public record is not clear as to what Speaker Naiqama Lalabalavu has done beyond receiving the party notification\u2014in particular, whether he has notified the Electoral Commission of the vacancies, as would be the responsibility of a speaker in other countries. The commission has, however, received a copy of FijiFirst\u2019s notification to Lalabalavu.<\/p>\n

For the moment, the 17 MPs are still in parliament. If the speaker does declare their seats vacant and they appeal to the Court of Disputed Returns, they will be deemed suspended from parliament, not expelled, until the case is resolved. That would take up to three weeks.<\/p>\n

If they are ultimately not expelled, FijiFirst will be permanently split, with only nine remaining MPs acting as part of it. And if that\u2019s its condition when or if Rabuka\u2019s coalition falls apart, no one in parliament is likely to have a clear way of forming a stable replacement government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fijian politics, already suffering from a risk that the governing coalition could fall apart, now faces the further danger that the opposition party, which would lead an alternative government, is also suffering a severe split. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":87269,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2015,265],"class_list":["post-87268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-domestic-politics","tag-fiji"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNow an opposition split worsens Fiji\u2019s political instability | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/now-an-opposition-split-worsens-fijis-political-instability\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Now an opposition split worsens Fiji\u2019s political instability | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fijian politics, already suffering from a risk that the governing coalition could fall apart, now faces the further danger that the opposition party, which would lead an alternative government, is also suffering a severe split. ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/now-an-opposition-split-worsens-fijis-political-instability\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-04T07:59:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-1664954672.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"617\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Richard Herr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Richard Herr\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/now-an-opposition-split-worsens-fijis-political-instability\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-1664954672.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-1664954672.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":617,\"caption\":\"SUVA, FIJI - SEPTEMBER 7: Fiji former prime minister Frank Bainimarama after court on September 7, 2023 in Suva, Fiji. 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