The man who started it all in 1987 is still Prime Minister of Fiji today.
On May 14, 1987 — 39 years ago today — Sitiveni Rabuka walked into Fiji’s Parliament with armed soldiers and overthrew a democratically elected government. He granted himself immunity, became Prime Minister in 1992, and is Prime Minister again now.
In that time: 4 coups. 70,000+ people fled. Poverty tripled. HIV is now the fastest growing epidemic in the world. Children as young as 6 are rape victims. Meth floods our streets. And the man who opened that door has never faced a single day of accountability for what he started.
What research says: how moral decay works in societies:
Stage 1 — The signal event
Research on societal collapse (Blanton et al., 2020, studying 30 pre-modern societies) found that moral decay begins with a single decisive act by a leader that breaks the social contract. The message sent to an entire society is: rules do not apply equally to everyone.
Fiji: May 14, 1987 — Rabuka enters Parliament with armed soldiers.
Stage 2 — Impunity is formalised
When the perpetrator not only escapes punishment but is rewarded — with power, promotion, and legal immunity — the signal is amplified. Research calls this the “impunity cascade”: if the most powerful break the law and face no consequence, why would anyone else feel bound by rules?
Fiji: Rabuka promoted, granted amnesty, becomes PM 1992.
Stage 3 — Institutions hollow out
The judiciary, police, and civil service lose independence when they see that power — not law — determines outcomes. Research shows this leads to selective enforcement, corruption, and a public that stops trusting institutions entirely. People stop reporting crimes. Courts become tools of whoever holds power.
Fiji: 4 coups, judiciary placed on leave (2007), police commanders loyal to coup leaders
Stage 4 — Social norms collapse
Once formal institutions fail, informal social norms — community accountability, family structures, cultural expectations — come under enormous pressure. Research (ResearchGate, 2022) identifies “economic pressure, weak governance, corruption, cultural erosion and family breakdown” as compounding drivers once this stage is reached.
Fiji: Begging, street children, drug use in schools, rape victims are children
The Fiji impunity chain — each coup rewarded, not punished
1987 ×2
Coup 1 & 2
Lt. Col. Sitiveni Rabuka
Overthrows the elected Bavadra government twice. Declares himself Head of State. Economy contracts. 70,000+ people flee.
Governor-General grants amnesty. Rabuka promoted to Commander of RFMF. Returns as elected PM in 1992. Serves until 1999. Returns as PM again in 2022 — and leads today.
2000
Coup 3
George Speight (civilian nationalist)
Takes Parliament and PM Chaudhry hostage for 56 days. Tourism collapses 30%. Economy contracts 8.2%. Soldiers tortured and killed.
Military signs Muanikau Accord granting Speight amnesty in exchange for releasing hostages. Speight later sentenced to life — but in September 2024, pardoned by the Mercy Commission. Rabuka reportedly orchestrated the pardon and planned a personal meeting with Speight as a “friend.”
2006
Coup 4
Commodore Frank Bainimarama
Overthrows elected PM Qarase. Suspends constitution. Places Chief Justice on leave. Media censored. Dissidents arrested. Rules by decree for 8 years.
Issues the “Immunity (Fiji Military Government Intervention) Promulgation 2007” — full, unconditional immunity for all coup participants. In 2010, the Limitation of Liability for Prescribed Political Events Act grants irrevocable, absolute immunity. The 2013 Constitution bakes this in permanently. Bainimarama becomes elected PM in 2014, rules until 2022.
What researchers and Fiji’s own commentators say about this pattern:
“It is no secret that the 1987 coup let the proverbial genie out of the bottle, which continues to rage through the political landscape in Fiji. It altered the role of the military, the executive branch of the government, the civil service and party politics to what we have today.”
— Fiji Times opinion, March 2024
“The only coup leader to have actually suffered as a result of their actions is George Speight — and he was not a soldier. Both Bainimarama and Rabuka were senior military leaders, and they were clever and powerful enough after their coups to ensure that Fiji’s constitution was rewritten to absolve them of any legal wrongdoing.”
— Devpolicy Blog, Australian National University, September 2022
“Amnesty, as a symbol of freedom, was more and more seen as a kind of ‘insurance on impunity’ with the emergence, then proliferation, of self-amnesty laws proclaimed by declining military dictatorships.”
— UN Special Rapporteur Louis Joinet, cited in international law research
“Corruption, selective law enforcement and impunity erode belief that rules apply equally, reducing citizens’ intrinsic motivation to follow norms.”
— Converging research from sociology, political science and behavioural economics
The cascade: how impunity at the top becomes moral decay at every level
Coup leader declares immunity for himself → The message to every Fijian: power protects you from consequences
Military and police become politicised → Law enforcement serves power, not justice. Crimes go unpunished if the right people are involved
Skilled professionals and community leaders emigrate → 61% of skilled workforce leaves. Moral anchors of communities disappear.
Families fragment
Poverty deepens, youth unemployment hits 60% → Young people without hope, family stability or role models become vulnerable to drugs, gangs and crime
Drug trafficking networks fill the vacuum → Organised crime exploits weak institutions. Meth becomes the economy for those with no other options
HIV, sexual violence, street children, begging → The visible face of what 40 years of impunity produces at street level
Churches multiply but moral authority fragments → More denominations, less unity, less community accountability. Each group retreats into its own walls
The coup leader who started it all is back in power → The cycle is complete. Impunity is not just tolerated — it is rewarded, permanently, at the highest level
Fiji Pensioners 