2006 Fijian coup d'état

The Fijian coup d'état of December 2006 occurred as a continuation of the pressure which had been building since the military unrest of the 2000 Fijian coup d'état and 2005–06 Fijian political crisis.

Fiji had seen four definitive coups in the past two decades. At the heart of the previous three of these lay the tensions between the ethnic Fijians and Indian Fijians. Religion played a significant role; the majority of ethnic Fijians belong to the Methodist church whereas the majority of the Indians are Hindu. In each coup, one of the sides sought to establish reduced rights for the Indian Fijians; the other side sought to grant greater rights and equality to the Indian Fijians.

The church in Fiji frequently played a significant role in politics — senior leaders of the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma supported the coup of 2000 and the subsequent proposal to pardon those involved. Even the possibility of declaring Fiji a theocratic Christian state was proposed in the past. This has brought Josaia Voreqe "Frank" Bainimarama, leader of the December 2006 coup, in conflict with the Methodist church in the past.

A long-running conflict between the government and military of the Republic of the Fiji Islands (Fiji) reached crisis point in early December 2006. The catalysts for the unrest were three bills under consideration by the Fijian parliament, one of which would question the illegality of the Fiji coup of 2000 and offer pardons to some of the rebels who participated in it. Nine demands were handed down from Commodore Josaia Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama to Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase largely pertaining to issues concerning these bills. Bainimarama gave an ultimatum to Qarase to concede to these demands or to resign from his post by Friday 1 December. This was then deferred to Monday 4 December.

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