George Speight - Motives For The Coup

Motives For The Coup

Speight claimed to be a Fijian nationalist and a champion of indigenous rights. He attracted support from certain elements of the Fijian population who were angered by the results of the 1999 election, which had swept away a government dominated by ethnic Fijians and brought to power a multiracial government led by Mahendra Chaudhry, who became Fiji's first-ever Indo-Fijian Prime Minister. Hints that the Chaudhry government might institute some form of land reform also generated considerable resentment among sections of the indigenous population, despite constitutional guarantees that ethnic Fijian ownership of 83 percent of the land could not be changed without the support of 9 of the 14 senators appointed by the Great Council of Chiefs, a wholly indigenous body. The leadup to the coup had seen certain politicians and other public figures play upon this resentment and foster public fear that native land might be alienated. Speight thus found sizeable number of sympathizers when he launched his putsch on 19 May.

Speight's partner, Torika Rawlinson, told the student newspaper Wansolwara that the original intention had been to execute members of the deposed government the night before the coup actually took place. She denied others' reports that Indo-Fijian businessmen had been involved.