1987 Fijian general election

1987 Fijian general election

← 1982 4–11 April 1987 1992 →

All 52 seats in the House of Representatives
26 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Timoci Bavadra Kamisese Mara
Party FLPNFP Alliance
Last election 22 seats 28 seats
Seats won 28 24
Seat change Increase 6 Decrease 4
Popular vote 461,056 484,543
Percentage 47.07% 49.46%
Swing Increase 5.86pp Decrease 2.33pp

Prime Minister before election

Kamisese Mara
Alliance

Elected Prime Minister

Timoci Bavadra
Labour

General elections were held in Fiji between 4 and 11 April 1987.[1] They marked the first electoral transition of power in Fijian history. Despite receiving just under 50% of the vote, the Alliance Party of longtime prime minister, Kamisese Mara was defeated by a coalition of the Fiji Labour Party (contesting a general election for the first time) and National Federation Party, which won 28 seats to the Alliance's 24. The Labour Party's Timoci Bavadra became prime minister.

Bavadra's 28-member parliamentary caucus included only seven ethnic Fijians, all of them elected with predominantly Indo-Fijian support from national constituencies. His fourteen-member cabinet included six Fijians, seven Indo-Fijians and one European. Effective Indo-Fijian control of the government caused widespread resentment among the ethnic Fijian community, and after less than a month in office, the new government was deposed on 14 May in a coup d'état led by Lieutenant-Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka.

  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p653 ISBN 0-19-924959-8