Elusive Dream

During the colonial days Fiji was a plural society of Furnivall 's classic definition. After independence in 1970, the Alliance government under Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara followed a policy of "multiracialism " to bring the different ethnic groups together where people achieved some degree of integration by having a common loyalty to the nation. But decades later, Fiji still remains an ethnically divided society with hardly any integration. The failure arose from the system of government that the country adopted at independence. Ratu Mara had recognised the problem and had said that the confrontational Westminster system is not appropriate in a South Pacific island with a multitracial population so soon after independence he offered to have a coalition government but the offer was turned down by the opposition. A decade later Ratu Mara again offered a government of National unity which was again rejected. So it was leadership lapses that led to the failure of democracy in Fiji.§§This book targets people who are interested in Fiji and the Pacific. It is also aimed at students of history, politics, sociology, anthropology and colonialism; and scholars of ethnic conflicts.