Paramount Chief of Fiji

Paramount Chief of Fiji

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Paramount Chief of Fiji

The Paramount Chief of Fiji (Fijian:Ilisapeci-Na Radi ni Viti kei Peritania or Ilisapeci-Na Tui Viti) is the name given to Queen Elizabeth II in Fiji. The Great Council of Chiefs recognises her as the most senior chief, but the position is not one of a constitutional, or otherwise legal nature.

The Fiji coups of 1987 resulted in the overthrow of the elected government of Fijian Prime Minister Timoci Bavadra, and in the declaration of a republic. The first coup, in which Bavadra was deposed, took place on May 14, 1987; a second coup on September 28 ended the Fijian Crown, and was shortly followed by the proclamation of a republic on October 7.

As a Commonwealth Realm, Fiji's Head of State was the Queen of Fiji, Elizabeth II. The Fijian Supreme Court ruled the coup unconstitutional, and the Queen's representative, Governor General Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, unsuccessfully attempted to assert executive power. He opened negotiations, known as the Deuba Talks, with both the deposed government, and the Alliance Party, which most indigenous Fijians, supported. These negotiations culminated in the Deuba Accord of September 23, 1987, which provided for a government of national unity, in which both parties would be represented under the leadership of the Governor-General. Fearing that the gains of the first coup were about to be lost, Sitiveni Rabuka staged a second coup on September 25.

The Great Council of Chiefs, a formal body of mostly hereditary chiefs, continues to recognise Elizabeth II as its Paramount Chief, as was officially confirmed by the Great Council in 1998 ^[1]^[2]. The majority of the members of this Council are descendants and blood relatives of the chiefs who ceded Fiji to Queen Victoria, Elizabeth's great-great-grandmother, in 1874. The declaration by the Great Council of Chiefs affirming Elizabeth's rights as Paramount Chief is unique, as it indicates she takes precedence within the Council over the President of the Republic of Fiji, who again can only be selected from a chiefly house and member of the GCC.