Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka (; born 13 September 1948) is a Fijian politician, sportsman, and former soldier who has been serving as Prime Minister of Fiji since 24 December 2022. He was the instigator of two military coups in 1987. He was democratically elected as Prime Minister of Fiji, serving from 1992 to 1999, and again in 2022, leading a three-party coalition. He also served as Chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs from 1999 to 2001, and later as Chairman of the Cakaudrove Provincial Council from 2001 to 2008.
Rabuka was elected as leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party in 2016, succeeding Leader of the Opposition Ro Teimumu Kepa, who publicly disapproved of Rabuka's nomination to replace her. He was appointed as the leader of the opposition to Parliament in 2018, following the 2018 election defeat. He was the only nomination for the position, and his nomination was moved by Ro Teimumu Kepa and seconded by Biman Prasad. He was ousted as SODELPA leader by Viliame Gavoka in a leadership contest. Rabuka resigned from parliament in 2020, citing that he would no longer be an obstacle to the bipartisan approach to be taken by the leaders of Fiji to create harmony and progress, and unity in Fiji. He formed a new political party in 2020, named Peoples Alliance, to contest the 2022 election.
Early life
The son of Kolinio Epeli Vanuacicila Rabuka and Salote Lomaloma Rabuka, Rabuka was raised in the village of Drekeniwai in eastern Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. He was educated at Queen Victoria School, where he became the head boy in his final year. He represented Fiji in shot put, hammer throw, discus and the decathlon at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games and has also represented Fiji national rugby union team in the 1970s.
Military career
Rabuka was trained initially in New Zealand army schools, from which he graduated in 1973, and completed a professional development course at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He did postgraduate work at the Indian Defence Services Staff College in 1979, and at the Australian Joint Services Staff College in 1982. He was a senior operation plans manager for UNIFIL peacekeeping troops in Lebanon in 1980 and 1981. On his return home, he was appointed Army chief of staff. From 1982 to 1987, he was an operations and training officer for the Fijian army, except for a two-year absence (1983–1985) when he commanded the Fijian Battalion as part of the Multinational Force and Observers peacekeeping force in the Sinai.
For his service in Lebanon, Rabuka was awarded the Legion of Honour in 1980, and was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in the 1981 Birthday Honours List.http://www.saxton.com.au/sitiveni-rabuka/"He was awarded the French Legion D'Honneur for bravery by the French Government for saving a French officer during an attack on the UN Headquarters in Lebanon in 1980."http://www.saxton.com.au/sitiveni-rabuka/" For outstanding leadership in Lebanon, Rabuka was awarded the OBE (Military Division) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in 1981."
1987 Fijian coups d'état
Rabuka, by now a colonel, emerged suddenly from obscurity on 14 May 1987 when he staged the first of two military coups, allegedly to reassert ethnic Fijian supremacy, following the 1987 election, which had brought to power an ethnic Fijian-led government in which half the ministers were Indo-Fijian (ethnic Indian). Deposing the elected government, he handed power over to the governor-general, Penaia Ganilau, a high chief whom he expected to implement ethnic Fijian interests. When, however, Ganilau attempted to reinstate the abrogated constitution, Rabuka carried out a second coup on 28 September that year. At first he pledged his allegiance to the Queen, but on 7 October he issued a decree (Declaration – Republic of Fiji Decree 1987 No. 8) proclaiming a republic, abolishing the 113-year link to the British Monarchy. He handed over power on 5 December to an interim administration, headed by Ganilau as President and Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara as prime minister, but remained Commander of the Army and Minister of Home Affairs, the National Youth Service, and the Auxiliary Army Service. Ganilau and Mara did not feel strong enough to dismiss Rabuka, but the public support they enjoyed as high chiefs was such that he did not feel strong enough to depose them. An uneasy truce existed between Ganilau and Mara on the one hand and Rabuka on the other.
During the time of the coup, Rabuka was sometimes referred to in the press as "Colonel Steve Rambo."
In 2006, Rabuka finally apologised for having executed the coups. Fiji Live reported on 28 March that Rabuka had told India's Ahmedabad Newsline, while visiting India for medical treatment, that he regretted his role in the coups, which he described as "democratically wrong".Fiji's SVT party says office break-in was political, Radio New Zealand International, 28 March 2006
Political career
Prime Minister of Fiji (1992–1999) In April 1991 Rabuka resigned as commander of the armed forces in order join the cabinet of Kamisese Mara as one of the Deputy Prime Ministers. Following the adoption in 1990 of a new constitution that guaranteed ethnic Fijian domination of the political system, Rabuka was chosen to lead the newly formed Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei in 1991. This party won the parliamentary election of 1992 and Rabuka became Prime Minister. His government was weakened from the outset, however, by a leadership challenge by former Finance Minister Josefata Kamikamica. In 1994, Kamikamica left the party with five of his supporters, depriving Rabuka of a parliamentary majority. A parliamentary election to resolve the impasse was held three years early; the Fijian Political Party won a plurality but fell two seats short of an absolute majority in the 70-member House of Representatives. Rabuka formed a coalition with the small General Voters Party, a small party supported almost entirely by general electors, who comprised Europeans, Chinese, and other minorities. He also agreed to negotiate with moderate leaders of the Indo-Fijian community to draft a controversial new Constitution, which removed most of the provisions that had biased the political system in favour of indigenous Fijians.
The elections of 1999 were the first in many years to see real competition between ethnic Fijians and Indo-Fijians for power. Rabuka lost these elections, and was replaced by Mahendra Chaudhry, the first Indo-Fijian Prime Minister.
2000 Fijian coup d'état Following his electoral defeat, Rabuka was elected Chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs. He was forced to relinquish this post in 2001, however, in the wake of allegations made against him by former President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara of complicity in the Fiji coup of 2000, which deposed both Mara and the Indo-Fijian Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, on 19 May 2000. Claiming that the coup leader George Speight – who was then in custody and was later convicted of treason – was only a front, Mara appeared on the Close-Up television program on 30 April 2001 and revealed that on 21 May 2000, two days after the coup, he had confronted Rabuka and Isikia Savua, the police chief, about their possible involvement in it. "I could see it in their faces," Mara declared. Ratu Mara told the programme that within half an hour of Speight's forcible occupation of the Parliament, Rabuka had telephoned Government House (the official residence of the President) to offer to form a government. He further alleged that the Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit of the Army had been involved in the coup after receiving training on a farm owned by Rabuka.
In an interview with Fiji's Daily Post on 2 July 2001, Rabuka angrily denied the allegations, saying that they were the ravings of "an angry old man" and "very unbecoming of a national leader and of a statesman." The charges, however, were repeated on the floor of the Senate on 23 October 2004 by Adi Koila Nailatikau, Mara's daughter.
Former Attorney-General Sir Vijay Singh published a memoir in 2006, supporting the allegations against Rabuka. Fiji Village quoted Singh on 18 August 2006 as saying, at the launch of his memoir, "Speaking Out", that Rabuka had told him personally that he was one of the ring-leaders and that real target of the coup was not the Chaudhry government, but Ratu Mara, and that Mara had voiced his own suspicions about Rabuka to Singh. "On Monday (following the Friday coup) I had a telephone conversation with the President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. He had no doubts that it was Mr Sitiveni Rabuka and Mr Isikia Savua", the then Commissioner of Police "who had organised the miserable affair at parliamentary complex," Singh said. Rabuka refused to comment on Singh's allegations, citing sub judice.
Alleged role in 2000 mutiny
Rabuka was also accused of instigating or supporting the mutiny that took place at Suva's Queen Elizabeth Barracks on 2 November 2000. In an interview with the Fiji Times on 12 November 2000, the Military Commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama charged that while the revolt was in progress, Rabuka had visited the barracks with his army uniform in the car, ready to take over command of the army. He also allegedly started issuing orders to soldiers. "Rabuka's words to one of my colonels at the height of the shootings raised my suspicions," Bainimarama said. "He said the Colonel should listen to his instructions. He also criticised my leadership." Bainimarama accused Rabuka of leading soldiers astray by using "confusing" and "deceiving" words.
Bainimarama also accused Rabuka of having "politicised" the Counter Revolutionary Warfare (CRW) unit, which he (Rabuka) had founded as a bodyguard in 1987, to favour both the mutiny and the earlier takeover of parliament in May. Members of the CRW were involved in both the May coup and the November mutiny.
Bainimarama's version was supported by Lieutenant Colonel Viliame Seruvakula, who led the counteroffensive to put down the mutiny. On 13 November 2000, he said that rebels interrogated by the military had implicated Rabuka. He accused Rabuka of trying to take civilians into the barracks to act as human shields for the mutineers, and stated that Rabuka's intention was to "claim military leadership and ultimately overthrow the Government of the day."
Rabuka, a retired officer, denied supporting the mutiny, but refused to comment on an accusation from Bainimarama that he had called a meeting of senior officers loyal to him to depose Bainimarama.
2006 arrest
Rabuka's denials of the allegations against him did not end the controversy. On 14 May 2005, The New Zealand Herald reported in its Weekend Herald edition that the Fiji police force was close to making a decision on whether to charge certain unnamed individuals, one of whom the Herald believed to be Rabuka. The report quoted Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes as saying that a major hindrance to their investigation was a "cone of silence" among the close associates of the suspects.
Rabuka was arrested on 11 May 2006 on charges of inciting Lieutenant Colonel Viliame Seruvakula to commit a military mutiny on 2 November 2000, in the aftermath of the 2000 coup. He was alleged to have approached Seruvakula back on 4 July that year, with a view to overthrowing the Military Commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama. He entered no plea, was released on $F 1000 bail, and was required to surrender his passport. He was ordered to report to the Namadi police station between 6 am and 6 pm every Monday and Saturday, and was warned not to try to influence any witnesses, according to a Fiji Live report. It was announced on 17 June that at the request of the Director of Prosecutions, the case had been transferred to the High Court due to the serious nature of the charge.