The Fijian Alliance, also known as the Alliance Party, was the ruling political party in Fiji from 1966 to 1987. Founded in the early 1960s, its leader was Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, the founding father of the modern Fijian nation. Widely seen as the political vehicle of the traditional Fijian chiefs, the Alliance Party also commanded considerable support among the Europeans and other ethnic minorities, who, although comprising only 3-4 percent of Fiji's population, were over represented in the parliament (with a third of the seats before 1973, and a sixth thereafter, allocated to them). Indo-Fijians were less supportive, but the Fijian-European block vote kept the Alliance Party in power for more than twenty years. 1966 was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... 1987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around the world. ... Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara (May 6, 1920 – April 18, 2004) is considered the founding father of the modern nation of Fiji. ... Father of the Nation is a term used by many countries to describe a political or symbolic leader who was one of the most influential founding fathers of the nation. ... 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ... Indo-Fijians are people born in Fiji, but are ethnically Indian. ...

The rule of the Alliance Party was briefly challenged in the election of March 1977, when a split in the ethnic Fijian vote resulted in the loss of nine seats. The Alliance ended up with 24 seats in the 52-seat parliament, two less than the Indo-Fijian-dominated National Federation Party (NFP). A constitutional crisis developed when, three days after the election, the NFP splintered in a leadership brawl, and the Governor General of Fiji, Ratu Sir George Cakobau, asked the Mara government to remain in power in a caretaker capacity. A second election was held in September that year to resolve the impasse; the Alliance was returned with an unprecedented 36 seats out of 52. Fijis election for the House of Representatives held in March 1977 was the second since independence from the United Kingdom in 1970. ... Indo-Fijians are people born in Fiji, but are ethnically Indian. ... Politics of Fiji Categories: Stub | Fijian political parties | Fiji-related stubs ... Categories: Pages needing attention | Stub | Fiji-related stubs | History of Fiji | Politics of Fiji ... Fiji became a British Crown Colony in 1874, and an independent dominion in the British Commonwealth in 1970; the British Monarch (Queen Elizabeth II remained the Head of State until 1987, when she formally abdicated following two military coups). ... Ratu Sir George Cakobau (1912-1989) was Governor General of Fiji from 1972 to 1982. ... A general election to Fijis House of Representatives was held in September 1977, to resolve the impasse of an earlier election that had been held in March. ...

The majority of the Alliance Party was reduced in the 1982 election, but with 28 seats out of 52, it retained office. In April 1987, the party was finally beaten by a multi-racial coalition led by Timoci Bavadra, an ethnic Fijian who nevertheless drew most of his support from the Indo-Fijian population. Politics of Fiji Categories: Stub | Elections in Fiji | Fiji-related stubs ... The general election of April 1987 was Fijis fifth since the country had gained its independence from the United Kingdom seventeen years earlier. ... Timoci Uluivunda Bavadra (September 22, 1934 - November 3, 1989) was a medical doctor who served for one month as the Prime Minister of Fiji in 1987 and who founded the Fiji Labour Party. ...

After less than a month in office, the new government was deposed in a military coup led by Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka. After several months of turmoil, the former Prime Minister Ratu Mara, the Alliance Party leader, was called back to head a transitional government. As part of a major realignment of Fijian politics, however, the Alliance Party was dissolved. Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka, OBE, (born September 13, 1948) is a former Prime Minister of Fiji. ...

More than fifteen years after the disbanding of the Fijian Alliance, Ratu Epeli Ganilau, Chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs from 2001 to 2004, and a son-in-law of the late Ratu Mara, formally registered the National Alliance Party of Fiji on 18 January 2005 as a claimed successor to the defunct party. Ganilau launched the new party at a mass rally in Suva on 8 April 2005. Ratu Epeli Ganilau (born 10 October 1951) is a Fijian soldier and statesman, who served as Chairman of the Bose Levu Vakaturaga (Great Council of Chiefs) from 2001 to 2004. ... The Great Council of Chiefs (Bose Levu Vakaturaga in Fijian) is a formal assembly of Fijis senior hereditary chiefs, along with some representatives of the national government and provincial councils, who may or may not be hereditary chiefs themselves. ... The Great Council of Chiefs (Bose Levu Vakaturaga in Fijian) is a constitutional body in the Republic of the Fiji Islands. ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The National Alliance Party of Fiji (NAP) is a Fijian political party. ... January 18 is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alternate use: see Suva (insurer). ... April 8 is the 98th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (99th in leap years). ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Fijian Alliance was considered to be a centre-right party, and was a member of the International Democrat Union, a umbrella-organization of moderate right-wing parties from many countries, including the Republican Party of the United States, the British Conservative Party, and the Australian Liberal Party. The International Democrat Union is an international grouping of conservative and, in some cases, Christian democratic parties. ... The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party, although one early citation described it as the Gallant Old Party) [1], is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ... The Conservative Party is the largest political party on the centre-right in the United Kingdom. ... The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian liberal conservative political party. ...