Analysis
What the Vuvale Union Treaty Doesn't Say
The Vuvale Union Treaty assessed against Fiji's Constitution. Five critical gaps. Parliamentary authority, judicial ouster, and defence sovereignty.
Analysis
Election Watch Series
Electon Watch: Part 3 of 5
FijiFirst won 42.5% of the vote in 2022, secured 26 seats, and was deregistered. Two former Deputy PMs now face corruption trials during the campaign. The opposition has the opening. Part 3 examines whether it has the organisation to use it.
Election Watch Series
Election Watch: Part 2 of 5
One vote in December 2022 ended sixteen years of Bainimarama. Three years on, that coalition is heading into a campaign where each party's interest in votes competes directly with their collective interest in governing. The fault lines are showing.
Election Watch Series
Election Watch: Part 1 of 5
The writ window opens 24 June. Rabuka can call the election any day from here — but timing is strategy. This analysis maps the factors pulling him toward an early poll and those pushing him to wait, the three scenarios in play, and what the date he picks will tell us about where he thinks he stands.
Analysis
The Drug Trade as Governance Failure: Why Maritime Fiji Bears the Cost of State Absence
The persistence of the drug trade in Fiji is not primarily a consequence of weak policing. Rather, it reflects the absence of sustained state presence; at sea, within village governance, and in fiscal priorities. Transnational traffickers have been quick to identify and exploit these gaps. Fiji’s maritime communities span
Analysis
When the Quad Comes Calling: Multilateral Architecture and Fiji’s Embedded Alignment
On 25 May, the Vuvale union appeared on the Fiji Parliament's order paper. The next day, the Quad named Fiji pilot for its first joint infrastructure project. The timing was coincidental; the architecture it exposed was not. They reveal how Fiji's strategic position is being shaped, and by whom.
Analysis
Vuvale Development and the Caution of a Dependency Culture: Why Hard Work and Strategic Planning Matter More in the Pacific
Is Fiji building genuine self-reliance — or deepening dependency? Associate Professor Andrew Levula calls for strategic investment in human capital and a return to Pacific values of discipline and preparation.
Policy Watch
How Did We Get Here? The Vuda Incinerator and the Governance Questions Nobody Is Asking
A FJD $1.4 billion waste-to-energy facility proposed for sacred iTaukei land at Vuda Point reached formal EIA stage without secured land consent, without addressing its Australian rejection history, and without a Waigani Convention compliance analysis. The Fiji Political Review asks how.