# 1987 Fijian general election

General elections were held in Fiji between 4 and 11 April 1987. They marked the first electoral transition of power in Fijian history. Despite receiving just under 50% of the vote, the Alliance Party of longtime prime minister, Kamisese Mara was defeated by a coalition of the Fiji Labour Party (contesting a general election for the first time) and National Federation Party, which won 28 seats to the Alliance's 24. The Labour Party's Timoci Bavadra became prime minister.
Bavadra's 28-member parliamentary caucus included only seven ethnic Fijians, all of them elected with predominantly Indo-Fijian support from national constituencies. His fourteen-member cabinet included six Fijians, seven Indo-Fijians and one European. Effective Indo-Fijian control of the government caused widespread resentment among the ethnic Fijian community, and after less than a month in office, the new government was deposed on 14 May in a coup d'état led by Lieutenant-Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka.

## Electoral system

The 52 members of the House of Representatives were elected from two types of constituency, with candidature in each limited to one of three ethnic groups; Fijians, Indo-Fijians and General electors, generally of European or Chinese descent.
Twenty-seven members were elected from communal constituencies (12 Fijians, 12 Indo-Fijians and 3 general) in which voters voted for someone of their own ethnicity, with the remaining twenty-five elected from national constituencies (10 Fijian, 10 Indo-Fijian and 5 general) in which candidature was limited by ethnicity but all registered voters in a constituency could vote for.

## Results

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
| | Alliance Party | 484,543 | 49.46 | 24 | −4 |
| | FLP–NFP | 461,056 | 47.07 | 28 | +6 |
| | Fijian Nationalist Party | 14,484 | 1.48 | 0 | 0 |
| | Western United Front | 8,339 | 0.85 | 0 | −2 |
| | National Federation Party-Koya | 4,462 | 0.46 | 0 | New |
| | Independents | 6,723 | 0.69 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 979,607 | 100.00 | 52 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 979,607 | 97.78 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 22,238 | 2.22 | | |
| Total ballots cast | Total ballots cast | 250,968 | – | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 353,691 | 70.96 | | |
| Source: Nohlen et al. ||||||

## Aftermath

Following the elections Bavadra formed a fourteen-member cabinet.
Bavadra cabinet :
| Position | Minister |
| Prime Minister Minister for Public Service Minister for Fijian Affairs Minister for Home Affairs | Timoci Bavadra |
| Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Minister for Information | Harish Sharma |
| Attorney General Minister for Justice | Jai Ram Reddy |
| Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry | Joeli Nacola |
| Minister for Communications, Transport and Works | Ahmed Bhamji |
| Minister for Education, Youth and Sport | Tupeni Baba |
| Minister of Finance and Economic Planning | Mahendra Chaudhry |
| Minister for Foreign Affairs and Civil Aviation | Krishna Datt |
| Minister for Health and Social Welfare | Satendra Nandan |
| Minister for Labour and Immigration | Joeli Kalou |
| Minister for Lands, Energy and Mineral Resources | Mosese Volavola |
| Minister for Trade, Industry and Tourism | Navin Maharaj |
| Minister of State for Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs | Chris Herbert |
| Minister of State for Rural Development, Rehabilitation and Relief | Temo Sukanaivalu |