This article lists political parties

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 in Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

.

Fiji has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition government

Coalition government

A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...

s.

Parliamentary parties

Have representatives in the House of Representatives

House of Representatives (Fiji)

The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of Fiji's Parliament. It is the more powerful of the two chambers; it alone has the power to initiate legislation...

:

• Fiji Labour Party
  Fiji Labour Party
  The Fiji Labour Party is a political party in Fiji, which holds observer status with the Socialist International. Most of its support at present comes from the Indo-Fijian community, although it is officially multiracial and its first leader was an indigenous Fijian, Dr. Timoci Bavadra. It is...
  
   (originally multiracial but now predominantly Indo-Fijian; led by Mahendra Chaudhry
  Mahendra Chaudhry
  Mahendra Pal Chaudhry is a Fijian politician and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party...
  
  )
• Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua
  Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua
  The Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua is a political party in Fiji...
  
   (United Fiji Party or SDL, mainly ethnic Fijian
  Fijian people
  Fijian people are the major indigenous people of the Fiji Islands, and live in an area informally called Melanesia. The Fijian people are believed to have arrived in Fiji from western Melanesia approximately 3,500 years ago, though the exact origins of the Fijian people are unknown...
  
  ; led by Laisenia Qarase
  Laisenia Qarase
  Laisenia Qarase is a Fijian political figure. He served as the sixth Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. After the military quashed the coup that led to the removal of Mahendra Chaudhry, Qarase joined the Interim Military Government as a financial adviser on 9 June 2000, until his appointment...
  
  )
• United Peoples Party
  United Peoples Party (Fiji)
  The United Peoples Party is a political party in Fiji, whose support base lies chiefly among General Electors - Fiji Islanders who belong to ethnic minorities, such as Europeans, Chinese, Banaban Islanders, as well as multiracial people...
  
   (supported mostly by Europeans, Chinese, and other minorities)

Minor parties

Not represented in the House of Representatives at present:

• Coalition of Independent Nationals - a grouping of six candidates styling themselves as independents, in the 1999 election. Led by Prince Vyas Muni Lakshman.
• Conservative Alliance
  Conservative Alliance (Fiji)
  The Conservative Alliance was a far-right political party in Fiji, and a member of the ruling coalition government. It was commonly known as the CAMV, a combination of the initials of its English and Fijian names...
  
   (CAMV), a nationalistic party that broke away from the Fijian Political Party (SVT) (q.v.) in 2001; led by Ratu
  Ratu
  Ratu is a title used by Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, Adi is used by females of chiefly rank.-Etymology:Ra is a prefix in many titles and Tu is simply "chief"...
  
   Naiqama Lalabalavu
  Naiqama Lalabalavu
  Ratu Naiqama Tawake Lalabalavu is a Fijian Paramount Chief and politician. He was the Minister for Lands and Minister for Mineral Resources in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, prior to his resignation on 7 April 2005...
  
  , its key figures included insurrectionist
  Fiji coup of 2000
  The Fiji coup of 2000 was a complicated affair involving a civilian putsch by hardline Fijian nationalists against the elected government of a non-native Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, on 19 May 2000, the attempt by President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara to assert executive authority on 27 May, and...
  
   George Speight
  George Speight
  George Speight , occasionally known as Ilikimi Naitini, was the principal instigator of the Fiji coup of 2000, in which he kidnapped thirty-six government officials and held them from May 19, 2000 to July 13, 2000...
  
  . The party merged into the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua in March 2006, but was revived in 2008.
• Dodonu ni Taukei (DNT) - ethnic Fijian party led by Dr Fereti S. Dewa.
• Fijian Political Party, better known by its Fijian
  Fijian language
  Fijian is an Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family spoken in Fiji. It has 450,000 first-language speakers, which is less than half the population of Fiji, but another 200,000 speak it as a second language...
  
   name, Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT), ethnic Fijian; the governing party from 1992 to 1999, but decimated in 1999 and anihlated in 2001. Partially merged into the Fiji Democratic Party in June 2002.
• Girmit Heritage Party (GHP), a small Indo-Fijian party led by Beni Sami.
• Green Party of Fiji
  Green Party of Fiji
  The Green Party of Fiji is a political party in Fiji. The party was formed in November 2008 by former interim regime Cabinet Minister Bernadette Ganilau. Like other green parties, the party will follow principles of "ecological wisdom, social justice and non-violence, participatory democracy and...
  
  
• Justice and Freedom Party (AIM): led by Dildar Shah
• Lio 'On Famör Rotuma Party
  Lio 'On Famör Rotuma Party (Fiji)
  Lio 'On Famör Rotuma or LFR is a political party in Fiji, which seeks to represent the interests of the Rotuman people in their main representative constituency, that is, the Rotuman Communal Constituency, which elects a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for all people of...
  
   (LFR), a party representing Rotuman Islanders
  Rotuma
  Rotuma is a Fijian dependency, consisting of Rotuma Island and nearby islets. The island group is home to a small but unique indigenous ethnic group which constitutes a recognizable minority within the population of Fiji, known as "Rotumans"...
  
  , led by Sakumanu Pene
• National Alliance Party of Fiji
  National Alliance Party of Fiji
  The National Alliance Party of Fiji is a Fijian political party. It was formally registered on 18 January 2005 by Ratu Epeli Ganilau, as the claimed successor to the defunct Alliance Party, which ruled Fiji from 1967 to 1987 under the leadership of the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, Ganilau's...
  
   (NAPF): registered on 18 January 2005 by Ratu Epeli Ganilau
  Epeli Ganilau
  Brigadier-General Ratu Epeli Ganilau, MC, MSD, is a Fijian soldier and statesman, who currently heads the National Alliance Party of Fiji. His career has previously encompassed such roles as Commander of the Fiji Military Forces and Chairman of the Bose Levu Vakaturaga...
  
   as the successor to the defunct Alliance Party
• National Federation Party
  National Federation Party (Fiji)
  The National Federation Party is a Fijian political party founded by A.D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Federation Party and the National Democratic Party...
  
   (NFP) - predominantly Indo-Fijian; once a major political party
• Nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo Party (NVTLP), led by Iliesa Duvuloco
  Iliesa Duvuloco
  Iliesa Duvuloco is a Fijian politician who leads the Nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo Party, which formed in 1999 through a merger of his own Vanua Tako Lavo Party and Sakeasi Butadroka's Fijian Nationalist Party, both of which championed ethnic nationalism and indigenous Fijian political...
  
  
• New Nationalist Party
  New Nationalist Party (Fiji)
  The New Nationalist Party is a Fijian political party with a strongly nationalist platform, arguing for the paramountcy of indigenous Fijian interests and of the Christian faith, professed by the great majority of indigenous Fijians but relatively few Indo-Fijians, who comprise some 38 percent of...
  
  , led by Saula Telawa
  Saula Telawa
  Saula Telawa is a Fijian nationalist politician who serves as President of the New Nationalist Party, which advocates indigenous Fijian paramountcy. He has also championed the establishment of Christianity, the faith of most indigenous Fijians, as Fiji's official religion...
  
  . A splinter from the NVTLP
• Party of National Unity
  Party of National Unity (Fiji)
  The Party of National Unity is a Fijian political party founded by Ratu Sairusi Nagagavoka in 1998; as of 2006, Nagagavoka is the President of the party. A well-known member of the party was Apisai Tora...
  
   (PANU) - multiracial party founded in 1998 by Sairusi Gagavoka; now merged into the People's National Party
  People's National Party (Fiji)
  The People's National Party is a former Fijian political party.-Party history:The history of the PNP is representative of the many complex about-turns of Fijian politics: it was formed by a merger of the Party of National Unity and the Protector of Fiji , which were both formally deregistered on...
  
   (PNP), though it was revived.
• Party of the Truth
  Party of the Truth (Fiji)
  The Party of Truth is a political party in Fiji. It is currently without parliamentary representation....
  
   (POTT), led by Nimilote Fifita
• People's National Party, predominantly ethnic Fijian; effectively led by Meli Bogileka
  Meli Bogileka
  Meli Bogileka is a Fijian politician. He was the Secretary of the People's National Party up to its decision to merge into the Party of National Unity on 5 March 2006. This merger, an affair complicated by several about-turns, saw Bogileka appointed Secretary of the new PANU...
  
  ; formed from a merger of the Party of National Unity (PANU) - and the Protector of Fiji (Bai kei Viti, founded by Ratu Tevita Momoedonu
  Tevita Momoedonu
  Ratu Tatu Tevita Momoedonu is a Fijian chief and has served as the fifth Prime Minister of Fiji twice - each time extremely briefly. Both appointments were to get around constitutional technicalities; his first term of office - on 27 May 2000 lasted only a few minutes. His second term - from 14...
  
  ).
• Social Liberal Multicultural Party
  Social Liberal Multicultural Party (Fiji)
  The Social Liberal Multicultural Party is a minor political party in Fiji. It is currently without parliamentary representation....
  
  , led by Joketani Delai

Municipal parties

Parties existing only at the municipal

Local government of Fiji

Fiji is divided administratively into four divisions, which are further subdivided into fourteen provinces; the self-governing island of Rotuma and its dependencies lie outside any of the four divisions. Each division is headed by a Commissioner, appointed by the Fijian government...

 level:

• Sugar City Ratepayers Alliance
  Sugar City Ratepayers Alliance
  The Sugar City Ratepayers Alliance is a Fijian political party that operates only on the municipal level, in the city of Lautoka. It was founded early in 2005 with a view to contesting the municipal elections to the Lautoka City Council, scheduled for 22 October 2005...
  
   - a party that exists only in the City of Lautoka
  Lautoka
  Lautoka is the second largest city of Fiji and the second largest in the South Pacific. It is in the west of the island of Viti Levu, 24 kilometres north of Nadi, and is the second port of entry in Fiji, after Suva. Lying in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane growing region, it is known as the Sugar...
  
  , where it participates in municipal politics.

Historical parties

Political parties that have played a pivotal role in the past, but are now defunct.

• All Nationals Congress - formerly a multiracial party. Split, with some joining the Fijian Association Party (FAP), and others the United General Party.
• Christian Democratic Alliance
  Christian Democratic Alliance (Fiji)
  The Christian Democratic Alliance, better known locally by its Fijian name, Veitokani ni Lewenivanua Vakarisito , was a Fijian political party that operated in the late 1990s and early 2000s....
  
  , more commonly known by the Fijian acronym VLV (Veitokoni ni Lewenivanua VaKarisito) - founded in 1999, this party won 19 percent of the vote and 3 seats in the 1999 election. It was weakened in 2001 when the leader, Poseci Bune
  Poseci Bune
  Poseci Waqalevu Bune is a Fijian politician, who has served as Deputy Leader of the Fiji Labour Party . From June to December 2006, he served as Minister for the Environment, one of nine FLP ministers, in the multiparty Cabinet of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase...
  
  , defected to join the Fiji Labour Party. In 2005, this party merged into the National Alliance Party of Fiji
  National Alliance Party of Fiji
  The National Alliance Party of Fiji is a Fijian political party. It was formally registered on 18 January 2005 by Ratu Epeli Ganilau, as the claimed successor to the defunct Alliance Party, which ruled Fiji from 1967 to 1987 under the leadership of the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, Ganilau's...
  
  .
• Alliance Party - the former ruling party (1967-1987); founded by Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara
  Kamisese Mara
  Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, CF, GCMG, KBE is considered the founding father of the modern nation of Fiji. He was Chief Minister from 1967 to 1970, when Fiji gained its independence from the United Kingdom, and, apart from one brief interruption in 1987, the first Prime Minister from 1970 to 1992...
  
  . On 18 January 2005, Ratu Epeli Ganilau, the past Chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs, formally registered the National Alliance Party of Fiji as the claimed successor to the defunct party.
• Fijian Association Party
  Fijian Association Party
  The Fijian Association Party is a former political party in Fiji. It played a significant role in Fijian politics throughout the 1990s, but lost all of its seats in the House of Representatives in the parliamentary election of 2001....
  
   (FAP) - founded by Josefata Kamikamica; significant in the 1990s but wiped out in 2001. Most members merged in June 2002 into the new Fiji Democratic Party
  Fiji Democratic Party
  The Fiji Democratic Party is a former political party in Fiji, which operated between June 2002 and April 2005.It was founded by Filipe Bole, a former Cabinet Minister, as a merger of the Fijian Political Party , the Fijian Association Party, the Christian Democratic Alliance, and the New Labour...
  
  ; a rump continues under the leadership of Ratu Inoke Seru.
• Fijian Nationalist Party
  Fijian Nationalist Party
  The Fijian Nationalist Party was a political party in Fiji, founded in 1975 by Sakeasi Butadroka, a parliamentarian who defected from the then-ruling Fijian Alliance, on a "Fiji for the Fijians!" platform. Its support peaked in the parliamentary election of March 1977, when it took 24.4 percent...
  
   - a hardline nationalist
  Nationalism
  Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
  
   party advocating indigenous Fijian supremacy, founded by Sakeasi Butadroka
  Sakeasi Butadroka
  Sakeasi Butadroka was a Fijian politician noted for his strident ethnic nationalism. Originally elected to the House of Representatives as a member of the ruling Fijian Alliance in the parliamentary election of 1972, he was expelled from the Alliance for his public attacks against the presence of...
  
   in 1975. Merged with the Vanua Tako Lavo Party
  Vanua Tako Lavo Party (Fiji)
  The Vanua Tako Lavo Party was a strongly nationalistic political party in Fiji, which was led by Iliesa Duvuloco. It advocated institutionalized political supremacy for indigenous Fijians. In the late 1990s, it merged with Sakeasi Butadroka's Fijian Nationalist Party to form the Nationalist Vanua...
  
   in 1999 to form the Nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo Party
• Fiji Democratic Party - founded in June 2002 by Filipe Bole
  Filipe Bole
  Filipe Nagera Bole is a Fijian politician who hails from the village of Mualevu on the island of Vanuabalavu in the Lau Group. He has long had a reputation as one of Fiji's few politicians untainted by scandal, and is noted for his moderate views...
  
   as a merger of the Fijian Association Party, the Christian Democratic Alliance, the New Labour Unity Party, and most members of the Fijian Political Party. Dissolved in April 2005 and merged into the new National Alliance Party of Fiji
• General Voters Party (GVP), the rump of a once-significant party that mostly merged into what is now the United Peoples Party in the late 1990s. Led by Dan Johns.
• New Labour Unity Party
  New Labour Unity Party (Fiji)
  The New Labour Unity Party was a Fijian political party, which broke away from the Fiji Labour Party in May 2001. It was founded by Tupeni Baba, a former Deputy Prime Minister and Labour Party stalwart, who had become dissatisfied with Mahendra Chaudhry's leadership and expressed fears that if...
  
   (founded in 2001 by Tupeni Baba
  Tupeni Baba
  Tupeni Lebaivalu Baba is a Fijian academic and politician, who founded the now-defunct New Labour Unity Party. Most members of this party later merged with several other centrist parties to form the Fiji Democratic Party...
  
  ; won two seats).
• Protector of Fiji (Bei Kei Viti; BKV) - ethnic Fijian party founded in 2001 by Ratu Tevita Momoedonu; now merged into the People's National Party (PNP)
• Vanua Tako Lavo Party - nationalist party advocating political supremacy for indigenous Fijians, founded by Iliesa Duvuloco. Merged with Fijian Nationalist Party in 1999 to form the Nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo Party
• Western United Front
  Western United Front (Fiji)
  Western United Front was an ethnically Fijian political party formed prior to the 1982 elections and contested the election in coalition with the National Federation Party .- The formation of the Party :...
  
  , political party based in the western part of Viti Levu
  Viti Levu
  Viti Levu is the largest island in the Republic of Fiji, the site of the nation's capital, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population.- Geography and economy :...
  
  , active in the early 1980s.

Coalitions and electoral alliances

• Grand Coalition Initiative Group - a coalition of five predominantly indigenous Fijian parties formed to contest the upcoming election
  Fiji election of 2006
  The Constitution of Fiji requires general elections for the House of Representatives to be held at least once every five years. The latest election was held on 6-13 May 2006. Acting President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi issued a proclamation on 2 March, effective from 27 March, dissolving Parliament...
  
   scheduled for mid-2006. Participating parties are: the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua, Conservative Alliance, Fijian Political Party, Nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo Party
  Nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo Party (Fiji)
  The Nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo Party is a Fijian political party which champions Fijian ethnic nationalism. It is currently led by Iliesa Duvuloco, while Viliame Savu serves as the party's President.- Founding and ideology :...
  
  , and the People's National Party.

• People's Coalition
  People's Coalition (Fiji)
  The People's Coalition was an alliance of three political parties in Fiji, formed in March 1999 to contest the parliamentary election to be held in May that year...
  
   - an electoral alliance consisting of the Fiji Labour Party, the Fijian Association Party, and the Party of National Unity, which won the 1999 elections
  Fiji election of 1999
  General elections were held in Fiji between 8 and 15 May 1999. They were the first election held under the revised Constitution of 1997, which instituted a new electoral system and resulted in Mahendra Chaudhry taking office as Fiji's first Indo-Fijian Prime Minister.-Electoral system:Previously,...
  
  .

• NFP-Labour Coalition
  NFP-Labour Coalition (Fiji)
  NFP-Labour Coalition was the coalition of the National Federation Party and Fiji Labour Party under the leadership of Timoci Bavadra, formed in 1987 to contest that year's general election. The coalition won the election with 28 seats in the House of Representatives to the Alliance Party's 24...
  
   was the coalition of the National Federation Party
  National Federation Party (Fiji)
  The National Federation Party is a Fijian political party founded by A.D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Federation Party and the National Democratic Party...
  
   and Fiji Labour Party
  Fiji Labour Party
  The Fiji Labour Party is a political party in Fiji, which holds observer status with the Socialist International. Most of its support at present comes from the Indo-Fijian community, although it is officially multiracial and its first leader was an indigenous Fijian, Dr. Timoci Bavadra. It is...
  
   under the leadership of Timoci Bavadra
  Timoci Bavadra
  Timoci Uluivuda Bavadra was a medical doctor who served for one month as the second Prime Minister of Fiji in 1987 and who founded the Fiji Labour Party....
  
  , formed in 1987 to contest that year's general election. The coalition won the election with 28 seats in the House of Representatives
  House of Representatives (Fiji)
  The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of Fiji's Parliament. It is the more powerful of the two chambers; it alone has the power to initiate legislation...
  
   to the Alliance Party's 24 seats.

• NFP-WUF Coalition was a coalition of the National Federation Party
  National Federation Party (Fiji)
  The National Federation Party is a Fijian political party founded by A.D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Federation Party and the National Democratic Party...
  
  (NFP) led by Jai Ram Reddy
  Jai Ram Reddy
  Jai Ram Reddy is an Indo-Fijian statesman, who has had a distinguished career in both the legislative and judicial branches of the Fijian government...
  
   anf the Western United Front
  Western United Front (Fiji)
  Western United Front was an ethnically Fijian political party formed prior to the 1982 elections and contested the election in coalition with the National Federation Party .- The formation of the Party :...
  
   (WUF) under the leadership of Ratu Osea Gavidi, formed to fight the 1982 general election against the Alliance Party. The coalition was an attempt by Reddy to broaden the appeal of a future NFP led Government to the ethnic Fijian
  Fijian people
  Fijian people are the major indigenous people of the Fiji Islands, and live in an area informally called Melanesia. The Fijian people are believed to have arrived in Fiji from western Melanesia approximately 3,500 years ago, though the exact origins of the Fijian people are unknown...
  
  s.

External links

• List of parties at the Fiji Electoral Commission.