Sitiveni Rabuka - The 1987 Coups

The 1987 Coups

Rabuka, by now a colonel, emerged suddenly from obscurity on 14 May 1987 when he staged the first of two military coups to reassert ethnic Fijian supremacy, following the 1987 election, which had brought an Indo-Fijian (ethnic Indian)-dominated government to power. Deposing the elected government, he handed power over to the Governor-General, Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, a high chief whom he expected to implement ethnic Fijian interests. When, however, Ganilau attempted to reinstate the abrogated constitution, Rabuka carried out a second coup on 28 September that year. At first he pledged his allegiance to the Queen, but later proclaimed a republic, abolishing the 113-year link to the British Monarchy. He handed over power on December 5 to an interim administration, headed by Ganilau as President and Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara as Prime Minister, but remained Commander of the Army and Minister of Home Affairs, the National Youth Service, and the Auxiliary Army Service. Ganilau and Mara did not feel strong enough to dismiss Rabuka, but the public support they enjoyed as high chiefs was such that he did not feel strong enough to depose them. An uneasy truce existed between Ganilau and Mara on the one hand and Rabuka on the other.

During the time of the coup, Rabuka was sometimes referred to in the press as "Colonel Steve Rambo."

In 2006, Rabuka finally apologised for having executed the coups. Fiji Live reported on 28 March that Rabuka had told India's Ahmedabad Newsline, while visiting India for medical treatment, that he regretted his role in the coups, which he described as "democratically wrong."