Deposed PM Bavadra In recent years, Sitiveni Rabuka has attempted to rewrite history — portraying his 1987 military coup as a “pre-emptive strike” intended to protect iTaukei Fijian interests. But the truth is much darker: the 1987 coup was not a defensive act, it was a naked power grab that shattered Fiji’s fragile democracy, institutionalized racial supremacy, and forced tens of thousands of citizens into exile. The cost was generational. The wounds are still open.
A Coup Against Democracy, Not a Threat
Let us be clear: the Labour-NFP coalition government overthrown in May 1987 was democratically elected, led by an iTaukei Fijian, Dr Timoci Bavadra. Its cabinet may have had significant Indo-Fijian representation, but it reflected the will of the people — not a threat to national security. Rabuka’s justification that his actions were a “pre-emptive strike” is both dishonest and cowardly. He did not act to defend the nation; he acted to prevent power from shifting to a multi-ethnic coalition that threatened elite, ethno-nationalist dominance.
What Rabuka pre-empted was not a coup — but equality.
The 1990 Constitution: A Blueprint for Apartheid
Rabuka’s betrayal deepened with the imposition of the 1990 Constitution — a document that enshrined racial supremacy into the heart of Fiji’s legal system. Under this racist regime:
A Coup Against Democracy, Not a Threat
Let us be clear: the Labour-NFP coalition government overthrown in May 1987 was democratically elected, led by an iTaukei Fijian, Dr Timoci Bavadra. Its cabinet may have had significant Indo-Fijian representation, but it reflected the will of the people — not a threat to national security. Rabuka’s justification that his actions were a “pre-emptive strike” is both dishonest and cowardly. He did not act to defend the nation; he acted to prevent power from shifting to a multi-ethnic coalition that threatened elite, ethno-nationalist dominance.
What Rabuka pre-empted was not a coup — but equality.
The 1990 Constitution: A Blueprint for Apartheid
Rabuka’s betrayal deepened with the imposition of the 1990 Constitution — a document that enshrined racial supremacy into the heart of Fiji’s legal system. Under this racist regime:
- Only iTaukei Fijians could become Prime Minister or President.
- Electoral boundaries and parliamentary quotas were rigged to ensure Indo-Fijians — then nearly half the population — could never lead or govern.
- Ethnic exclusion was baked into national identity, hollowing out the promise of constitutional democracy.
SITIVENI RABUKA had appointed the late Professor Asesela Ravuvu to chair the Committee which came up with the racist 1990 Constitution that disenfranchised Indo-Fijians, Others, and i-Taukei Fijians from urban areas throughout Fiji
 |  |
 |   |
REMORSELESS RABUKA ON BAVADRA'S DEATH:
'On 3 November [1989] Dr Bavadra died after a long battle with cancer. Rabuka's reaction, he recalls, was to FEEL GOOD that his enemy was gone, for a major obstacle had been removed by his death. Bavadra's death confirmed for Rabuka the rightness of his action in May 1987' -
John Sharpham, Rabuka of Fiji, The authorised biography of
Major-General Sitiveni Rabuka
