Melanesia in Review: Issues and Events, 2014

[...]the military top brass carefully guarded its rehabilitated constitutional responsibility "to ensure at all times, the security, defence and well-being of Fiji and all Fijians" (Fiji Government 2013, section 131 (2) [section 5 (1) provides that "all citizens of Fiji shall be known as Fijians"]). Ever since 1929, Fiji's general elections had separated "Fijians," "Indians," and "Others" by race, and required each ethnic group to cast ballots entailing choices of leaders within their communities (though often with supplementary votes cast in "cross-voting" [1966], "national" [1972-1987], or "open" [1999-2006] constituencies on a common roll).\n The Asian Development Bank now promised us$350 million, and the World Bank was also poised to embark on a new program of lending, triggering expectations of an economic boom (fbc, 21 Oct 2014).