[Source: ABC]

May 14th marks 34 years since Fiji’s first coup led by the then Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka who was the third in charge of the Royal Fiji Military Forces.

On the day in question, at about 10am masked men carrying firearms walked into parliament at the government building in Suva, led by Rabuka.

The coalition government of the then Prime Minister Doctor Timoci Bavadra was overthrown and a caretaker administration appointed.

The Fiji Labour Party and the National Federation Party had defeated the Alliance Party of Ratu Kamisese Mara and had been in power for only one month before being ousted.

[Sitiveni Rabuka Source: Matt Mckee]

Rabuka stated in 1987 that his actions were driven by a desire to protect the rights of indigenous Fijians and concern of racial discrimination by a majority Indo-Fijian government.

14 May 1987 as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army I executed a #coup and took #Fiji backward by some years, creating a bad culture that others followed and continue the downward spiral. The past I can’t change but the future I can and I will!

— Sitiveni L Rabuka (@SitiveniLRabuka) May 13, 2021

In a tweet this morning, Rabuka says he executed a coup and took Fiji backward by some years, creating a bad culture that others followed and continue the downward spiral.

[Source: Asia Pacific Report]

He also says he can’t change the past and hinting at his political ambitions, the former politician says he can and will change the future.

Rabuka has on numerous occasions admitted that his actions were wrong and has apologized not only for overthrowing a democratically elected government, but the implications it had on peoples’ lives, the Fijian economy and the growth of the nation.