Prime Minister of Fiji

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji is the head of government of Fiji. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President. In 2022, Sitiveni Rabuka became the current Prime Minister.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji
Coat of arms of the Republic of Fiji
Incumbent Sitiveni Rabuka since 24 December 2022
Style	The Right Honourable
Seat	Government Buildings, Suva
Appointer	President of Fiji
Inaugural holder	Kamisese Mara
Formation	10 October 1970
Salary	FJ$ 328,750 annually[1]
Website	http://www.pmoffice.gov.fj/

List of prime ministers of Fiji (1970–present)

No.	Portrait	Prime Minister	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Party	Election	Head of State
Prime ministers of the Dominion of Fiji
1		Mara, KamiseseRatu Sir Kamisese Mara (1920–2004)	10 October 1970	13 April 1987	16 years, 185 days	Alliance	1972 1977 (Mar) 1977 (Sep) 1982	Elizabeth II
2		Bavadra, TimociTimoci Bavadra (1934–1989)	13 April 1987	14 May 1987	31 days	Labour	1987	Elizabeth II
Vacant (14 May 1987 – 5 December 1987)[a]
Prime ministers of the Republic of Fiji
(1)		Mara, KamiseseRatu Sir Kamisese Mara (1920–2004) [b]	5 December 1987	2 June 1992	4 years, 180 days	Independent	—	Penaia Ganilau
3		Rabuka, SitiveniMajor general (Rtd) Sitiveni Rabuka (born 1948)	2 June 1992	19 May 1999	6 years, 351 days	SVT	1992 1994	Penaia Ganilau Kamisese Mara
4		Chaudhry, MahendraMahendra Chaudhry (born 1942)	19 May 1999	27 May 2000	1 year, 8 days	Labour	1999	Kamisese Mara
5		Momoedonu, TevitaRatu Tevita Momoedonu (1941–2020) [c]	27 May 2000	27 May 2000	0 days	Labour	—	Kamisese Mara
Vacant (27 May 2000 – 4 July 2000)[a]
6		Qarase, LaiseniaLaisenia Qarase (1941–2020) [d]	4 July 2000	14 March 2001	253 days	Independent	—	Frank Bainimarama Josefa Iloilo
–		Momoedonu, TevitaRatu Tevita Momoedonu (1941–2020) Acting	14 March 2001	16 March 2001	2 days	Labour	—	Josefa Iloilo
(6)		Qarase, LaiseniaLaisenia Qarase (1941–2020)	16 March 2001	5 December 2006	5 years, 264 days	SDL	2001 2006	Josefa Iloilo
–		Senilagakali, JonaDr. Jona Senilagakali (1929–2011) Acting [e]	5 December 2006	4 January 2007	30 days	Independent	—	Frank Bainimarama
–		Bainimarama, FrankCommodore Frank Bainimarama (born 1954) Acting [f]	5 January 2007	22 September 2014	7 years, 260 days	RFMF	—	Josefa Iloilo Epeli Nailatikau
8		Bainimarama, FrankCommodore (Rtd) Frank Bainimarama (born 1954)	22 September 2014	24 December 2022	8 years, 93 days	FijiFirst	2014 2018	Epeli Nailatikau Jioji Konrote Wiliame Katonivere
9		Rabuka, SitiveniMajor general (Rtd) Sitiveni Rabuka (born 1948)	24 December 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 141 days	People's Alliance	2022	Wiliame Katonivere

Notes

1. Two military coups in 1987 and a civilian coup d'état in 2000 left Fiji without a Prime Minister each time.
2. Mara's party, the Alliance Party, was dissolved in the wake of the 1987 coups, so he was effectively a non-partisan Prime Minister in his last term.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.^[2]
6. The Bainimarama government was dismissed as illegal by Fiji's Court of Appeal on 10 April 2009, leading to the Prime Minister's immediate resignation. He was re-appointed the next day by President Josefa Iloilo, following the latter's abrogation of the Constitution.^[3][4]