Government

Government#

parliamentary republic

System

parliamentary republic

Capital

Suva (on Viti Levu)

Head of state

President Ratu Naiqama LALABALAVU (since 12 November 2024)

Head of government

Prime Minister Sitiveni Ligamamada RABUKA (since 24 December 2022)

Legislature

legislature name: Parliament; legislative structure: unicameral; number of seats: 55 (all directly elected); electoral system: proportional representation; scope of elections: full renewal; term in office: 4 years; most recent election date: 12/14/2022; parties elected and seats per party: FijiFirst (26); People’s Alliance (21); National Federation Party (NFP) (5); Social Democratic Liberal Party (Soldelpa) (3); percentage of women in chamber: 9.1%; expected date of next election: December 2026

Judiciary

highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the chief justice, all justices of the Court of Appeal, and judges appointed specifically as Supreme Court judges); Court of Appeal (consists of the court president, all puisne judges of the High Court, and judges specifically appointed to the Court of Appeal); High Court (chaired by the chief justice and includes a minimum of 10 puisne judges; High Court organized into civil, criminal, family, employment, and tax divisions); judge selection and term of office: chief justice appointed by the president of Fiji on the advice of the prime minister following consultation with the parliamentary leader of the opposition; judges of the Supreme Court, the president of the Court of Appeal, the justices of the Court of Appeal, and puisne judges of the High Court appointed by the president of Fiji on the nomination of the Judicial Service Commission after consulting with the cabinet minister and the House of Representatives committee responsible for the administration of justice; the chief justice, Supreme Court judges, and justices of Appeal generally required to retire at age 70, but this requirement may be waived for one or more sessions of the court; puisne judges appointed for not less than 4 years or more than 7 years, with mandatory retirement at age 65; subordinate courts: Magistrates’ Court (organized into civil, criminal, juvenile, and small claims divisions)

Constitution

history: several previous; latest signed into law 6 September 2013; amendment process: proposed as a bill by Parliament and supported by at least three quarters of its members, followed by referral to the president and then to the Electoral Commission, which conducts a referendum; passage requires approval by at least three-quarters of registered voters and assent by the president

Independence

10 October 1970 (from the UK)

Administrative divisions

14 provinces and 1 dependency*; Ba, Bua, Cakaudrove, Kadavu, Lau, Lomaiviti, Macuata, Nadroga and Navosa, Naitasiri, Namosi, Ra, Rewa, Rotuma*, Serua, Tailevu

Departments#

TODO. Ministries and authoritative sites, to be filled out.

Hierarchy#

How power is wired. The diagram below carries the generic template; refine the boxes and edges to match the current regime.

        flowchart TD
  HoS["Head of State"]
  HoG["Head of Government"]
  Leg["Legislature"]
  Jud["Judiciary"]
  Cab["Cabinet"]
  Foreign["Foreign Affairs"]
  Interior["Interior"]
  Defense["Defense"]
  Finance["Finance"]
  Justice["Justice"]

  HoS --> HoG
  HoG --> Cab
  Cab --> Foreign
  Cab --> Interior
  Cab --> Defense
  Cab --> Finance
  Cab --> Justice
  HoS -.- Leg
  HoS -.- Jud
    

Resources#

Public-facing portals the people use day to day. Operators monitor these for policy changes, official notices, and civil-registry data.

Resource

Site

Purpose

National portal

to be filled

One-stop government services for citizens.

Tax / revenue

to be filled

Income tax, VAT, customs.

Civil registry

to be filled

Births, deaths, marriages, national ID.

Immigration

to be filled

Visas, residency, naturalisation.

Health

to be filled

Public health, advisories, vaccination records.

Education

to be filled

Curricula, school directories, transcripts.

Statistics

to be filled

Census, economic indicators, opendata.

Police / emergency

to be filled

Reporting, missing persons, emergency contacts.