The Senate of Fiji is the upper chamber of Parliament. It is the less powerful of the two chambers; it may not initiate legislation, but may amend or veto it. The Senate's powers over financial bills are more restricted: it may veto them in their entirety, but may not amend them. The House of Representatives may override a Senatorial veto by passing the bill a second time in the parliamentary session immediately following the one in which it was rejected by the Senate, after a minimum period of six months. Amendments to the Constitution are excepted: the veto of the Senate is absolute. Following the passage of a bill by the House of Representatives, the Senate has 21 days (7 days in the case of a bill classified as "urgent") to approve, amend, or reject it; if at the expiry of that period the Senate has done nothing about it, it is deemed to have passed the bill.
The Senate has 32 members. Formally, they are appointed by the President, but the President is constitionally reqired to accept the nominees of the following institutions: 14 are chosen by the Bose Levu Vakaturaga (Great Council of Chiefs), 9 by the Prime Minister, 8 by the Leader of the Opposition, and 1 by the Rotuman Islands Council. From among their own members, the Senators elect a President and Vice-President, whose roles are similar to those of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively. As of January 2005, the President of the Senate is Taito Waqavakatoga; the Vice-President is Ahmed Ali.
The built-in near-majority of Fijian chiefs in the Senate gives them an effective veto over contentious social legislation, as well as constitutional amendments, provided they vote as a block, as they will almost certainly be joined by enough other senators to muster a majority. Senators, like their fellow-parliamentarians from the House of Representatives, may be appointed to the Cabinet - the executive arm of government.
As of 12 March2004, the Fijian Senate comprises the following persons:
The Senate's absolute veto over constitutional amendments, however, reflects the view of the framers of the Constitution that safeguards were necessary to protect it from being lightly tampered with by putting a veto in the hands of a body less susceptible to electoral pressure.
Senators are officially appointed by the President, but his role is a mere formality, as Section 64 requires him to ratify the nominees of the Great Council of Chiefs (14), the Prime Minister (9), the Leader of the Opposition (8), and the Council of Rotuma (1).
As part of the compromise of 1970, agreed upon by the main political parties representing the two major communities, a Senate was established with 22 members, with 8 nominated by the Great Council of Chiefs, 7 by the Prime Minister, 6 by the Leader of the Opposition, and 1 by the Council of Rotuma.
The Senate is one of the two Houses of the Fiji Parliament.
The Senates lawmaking powers are equal to those of the House of Representatives except that it cannot introduce or amend proposed laws that authorise expenditure for the ordinary annual services of the government or that impose taxation.
The President of the Senate is the presiding officer in the Senate.
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