“Prime Minister of Fiji”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji is the head of government of Fiji. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President under the terms of the 2013 Constitution of Fiji.

As a former British colony, Fiji has largely adopted British political models and follows the Westminster, or Cabinet, system of government, in which the executive branch of government is responsible to the legislature. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, but must be supported, or at least accepted, by a majority in the House of Representatives. If at any time the Prime Minister loses the "confidence" of the House, he must resign, along with the entire Cabinet. In practice, this usually reduces the Prime Minister's appointment to a formality, as the parliamentary leader of the majority political party or coalition is invariably appointed. If, however, no such majority party or coalition exists, whether due to electoral fragmentation or to party realignments after an election, the President's role becomes much more important. The President must endeavour to find a candidate acceptable to a majority in the House; if no such candidate can be found, the President must dissolve Parliament and call an election prematurely.

The Prime Minister of Fiji is technically the "first among equals," whose vote in meetings of the Cabinet carries no greater weight that that of any other minister. In practice, the Prime Minister dominates the government. Other Ministers are appointed by the President, but on the Prime Minister's advice, and may be dismissed by him at any time (although his control over ministerial appointments may be tempered by the realities of coalition politics: the leader or leaders of coalition partners may insist on having a say in the matter too).

History of the office

Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara was appointed Fiji's first Chief Minister on 20 September 1967, while Fiji still was a British colony. When Fiji attained its independence from Britain on 10 October 1970, the office was renamed Prime Minister., with Mara keeping the office. Afterwards, Mara's first term as Prime Minister lasted until 13 April 1987. He returned to the office for the second term on 5 December 1987, serving until 2 June 1992. As of 2014, Mara is the longest-serving Prime Minister of Fiji.

List of Prime Ministers of Fiji (1967–present)

See also

References

1. ^Mara's party, the Alliance Party, was dissolved in the wake of the 1987 coups, so he was effectively a non-party Prime Minister in his last term.
2. ^Ratu Momoedonu was appointed Prime Minister on 27 May 2000, by the then-President, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, in order to meet a constitutional technicality. He resigned only a few minutes later, as soon as the technicality had been attended to, in order to allow the President to assume full executive power.
3. ^Qarase was not a member of a political party when he headed the interim government in 2000 and early 2001. Following his reinstatement on 16 March 2001 (after two days' absence from office), he founded the United Fiji Party to contest the general election that was to be held later that year.
4. ^Senilagakali was installed as Interim Prime Minister as Commodore Josaia Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama took control of the Government. He was previously a highly esteemed medical doctor, the former President of the Fijian Medical Association, and was military doctor at the time of the coup d'état in 2006.
5. ^{{cite news|title=Military now in charge in Fiji|url=http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=52960|publisher=Fiji Times|date=5 December 2006}}