The thesis of this paper is that Fiji is on a rocky road of coups towards democracy.
Three specific claims are made here: (i) Fiji never was a democracy; (ii) each of the
coups has moved Fiji closer towards a representative democracy; and, (iii) that Fiji is
as close as ever to bringing about democratic reforms. The policy lesson for the
international community is to let the two factions competing for power in Fiji reach a
stalemate; and wait until the stalemate hurts enough to induce negotiations for a rulebased
system for political transitions. Democratic reforms may be an outcome of
these negotiations. Trade, migration, and communication channels could, in the
meantime, be kept open to minimise the adverse effects of the current political
impasse on the wider community.