Leader of the Opposition (Fiji)

In Fiji, the leader of the opposition (or opposition leader) is a senior politician who commands the support of the Official Opposition. The leader of the opposition is, by convention, the leader of the largest political party in the Parliament of Fiji that is not in government. This is usually this is the parliamentary leader of the second-largest caucus in Parliament. It did not originate in Fiji but has a long tradition; in British constitutional theory, the leader of the opposition must pose a formal alternative to the government, ready to form a government himself should the prime minister lose the confidence of the parliament.

Typically the leader of the opposition is elected by his or her party according to its rules. A new leader may be elected when the incumbent dies, resigns, or is challenged for the leadership. Inia Seruiratu of the FijiFirst party (independent since 2024<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>) has been serving as the leader of the opposition since 29 March 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Description of the office

The leader of the opposition is chosen by a vote of all members of Parliament who declare that they do not support the government. But before the adoption of the 2013 Constitution, the leader of the opposition was formally appointed by the president. The appointment was not at the president's personal discretion, however, as he was required by the Constitution to appoint the person most acceptable to the majority of the opposition (defined as members of the House of Representatives who belong to political parties not represented in the Cabinet). In theory, that meant the parliamentary leader of the largest Opposition party. In practice, the person most eligible could decline the office, as was the case between 2001 and 2004, when Mahendra Chaudhry, whose Labour Party held 28 of the 30 Opposition seats in the House of Representatives, adamantly refused to accept the position of leader of the opposition, insisting that he and his party wanted representation in the Cabinet instead. Until he reversed his position late in 2004 (following the collapse of negotiations with Prime Minister Qarase), this forced the president to appoint Mick Beddoes, the sole parliamentary representative of the United General Party, as leader of the opposition.

Under the 1997 Constitution, the leader of the opposition chose 8 of the 32 members of the Senate, Fiji's upper house of Parliament, and had the right to be consulted about the appointment of the chief justice.

List of leaders of the opposition in Fiji (1970–present)

Template:Officeholder table start Template:Officeholder table Template:Officeholder table Template:Officeholder table Template:Officeholder table Template:Officeholder table |- style="text-align:center;" | colspan=10| Vacant (14 May 1987 – 3 April 1992) Template:Officeholder table Template:Officeholder table |- style="text-align:center;" | colspan=10| Vacant (3 October 2000 – 3 July 2001) Template:Officeholder table Template:Officeholder table Template:Officeholder table Template:Officeholder table |- style="text-align:center;" | colspan=10| Vacant (5 December 2006 – 6 October 2014) Template:Officeholder table Template:Officeholder table Template:Officeholder table Template:Officeholder table Template:Officeholder table Template:Officeholder table end

Timeline

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Define $now = {{#time:Y}}

Colors =

 id:independent value:rgb(0.87,0.87,0.87)  legend:None_(Independent)
 id:nfp         value:rgb(0.09,0.40,0.29)  legend:National_Federation_Party
 id:alliance    value:rgb(0.31,0.39,0.81)  legend:Alliance
 id:svt         value:rgb(0.4,0.67,0.96)   legend:SVT
 id:upp         value:rgb(0,0.67,0.24)     legend:United_Peoples_Party
 id:labour      value:rgb(1,0,0)           legend:Labour
 id:sodelpa     value:rgb(0.0,0.388,0.714) legend:SODELPA
 id:fijifirst   value:rgb(0.12,0.56,1)     legend:FijiFirst

 id:gray1  value:gray(0.85)
 id:gray2  value:gray(0.95)

DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1970 till:{{#expr:{{#time:Y}}+1}} TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:5 start:1970 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:1 start:1970

Legend = columns:1 left:150 top:35 columnwidth:170

TextData =

 pos:(20,38) textcolor:black fontsize:M
 text:"Political party:"

BarData =

bar:Koya
bar:Reddy
bar:Sharma
bar:Mara
bar:Kubuabola
bar:Singh
bar:Beddoes
bar:Chaudhry
bar:Kepa
bar:Rabuka
bar:Lalabalavu
bar:Bainimarama
bar:Seruiratu

PlotData =

 width:5 align:left fontsize:9 shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

bar:Koya
 from: 1970 till: 1977 color:nfp
 from: 1984 till: 1987 color:nfp         text:"Sidiq Koya"
bar:Reddy
 from: 1977 till: 1984 color:nfp
 from: 1992 till: 1999 color:nfp         text:"Jai Ram Reddy"
bar:Sharma
 from: 1987 till: 1987 color:nfp         text:"Harish Sharma"
bar:Mara
 from: 1987 till: 1987 color:alliance    text:"Kamisese Mara"
bar:Kubuabola
 from: 1999 till: 2000 color:svt         text:"Inoke Kubuabola"
bar:Singh
 from: 2001 till: 2002 color:nfp         text:"Prem Singh"
bar:Beddoes
 from: 2002 till: 2004 color:upp
 from: 2006 till: 2006 color:upp         text:"Mick Beddoes"
bar:Chaudhry
 from: 2004 till: 2006 color:labour      text:"Mahendra Chaudhry"
bar:Kepa
 from: 2014 till: 2018 color:sodelpa     text:"Teimumu Kepa"
bar:Rabuka
 from: 2018 till: 2020 color:sodelpa     text:"Sitiveni Rabuka"
bar:Lalabalavu
 from: 2020 till: 2022 color:sodelpa     text:"Naiqama Lalabalavu"
bar:Bainimarama
 from: 2022 till: 2023 color:fijifirst   text:"Frank Bainimarama"
bar:Seruiratu
 from: 2023 till: 2024 color:fijifirst
 from: 2024 till: $now color:independent text:"Inia Seruiratu"

</timeline>

See also

• List of political parties in Fiji
• House of Representatives of Fiji