2000 Fijian coup d'état

The Fiji coup of 2000 was a complicated affair involving a civilian coup d'état by hardline i-Taukei nationalists against the elected government of a Fijian of Indian Descent Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, on 19 May 2000, the attempt by President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara to assert executive authority on 27 May, and his own resignation, possibly forced, on 29 May. An interim government headed by Commodore Frank Bainimarama was set up, and handed power over to an interim administration headed by Ratu Josefa Iloilo, as President, on 13 July.

Parliamentary elections in May 1999, had resulted in a decisive victory for the People's Coalition, a multiracial grouping that was dominated by the predominantly Labour Party but which also included three other parties supported. Mahendra Chaudhry had become the country's first Prime Minister of Indian Descent.

The election result and Chaudhry's subsequent appointment as Prime Minister angered hardline i-Taukei nationalists. His government's hints at land reform caused further alarm. When a group led by George Speight, a businessman who had been declared bankrupt following the cancellation of several contracts by the Chaudhry government, entered Parliament buildings on 19 May 2000, disaffected elements of the i-Taukei population rallied to his side. For 56 days, Prime Minister Chaudhry and most of his cabinet, along with many Parliamentarians and their staff, were held as hostages while Speight attempted to negotiate with the President, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, who denounced the coup and declared a state of emergency, and with the military administration which took office on 29 May.

On 26 May, fifteen soldiers and two officers defected to the rebels, and, the following day, gunfire was exchanged. In a move that constitutional experts have described as of questionable constitutionality, Mara dismissed the government from office (for being "unable to act") prorogued Parliament for six months, and assumed executive authority himself. In doing so, he claimed to be following the advice of the Chief Justice, Sir Timoci Tuivaga, but he refused to abrogate the constitution, which Tuivaga had also advised. Mara admitted that his actions were at the very edge of constitutionality but said he believed they were within that boundary and necessary.

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