| Country: | Fiji |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Previous Election: | 1982 Fijian general election |
| Previous Year: | 1982 |
| Election Date: | 4–11 April 1987 |
| Next Election: | 1992 Fijian general election |
| Next Year: | 1992 |
| Seats For Election: | All 52 seats in the House of Representatives |
| Majority Seats: | 26 |
| Leader1: | Timoci Bavadra |
| Image1: | Bavadra in Sydney, April 1988 (cropped).jpg |
| Party1: | FLP–NFP |
| Last Election1: | 22 seats |
| Seats1: | 28 |
| Seat Change1: | 6 |
| Popular Vote1: | 461,056 |
| Percentage1: | 47.07% |
| Swing1: | 5.86pp |
| Leader2: | Kamisese Mara |
| Party2: | Alliance Party (Fiji) |
| Last Election2: | 28 seats |
| Seats2: | 24 |
| Seat Change2: | 4 |
| Popular Vote2: | 484,543 |
| Percentage2: | 49.46% |
| Swing2: | 2.33pp |
| Prime Minister | |
| Before Election: | Kamisese Mara |
| Before Party: | Alliance Party (Fiji) |
| After Election: | Timoci Bavadra |
| After Party: | Fiji Labour Party |
General elections were held in Fiji between 4 and 11 April 1987.[1] They marked the first electoral transition of power in Fijian history. Despite receiving just under 50% of the vote, the Alliance Party of longtime Prime Minister, Kamisese Mara was defeated by a coalition of the Fiji Labour Party (contesting a general election for the first time) and National Federation Party, which won 28 seats to the Alliance's 24. The Labour Party's Timoci Bavadra became Prime Minister.
Bavadra's 28-member parliamentary caucus included only seven ethnic Fijians, all of them elected with predominantly Indo-Fijian support from national constituencies. His fourteen-member cabinet included six Fijians, seven Indo-Fijians and one European. Effective Indo-Fijian control of the government caused widespread resentment among the ethnic Fijian community, and after less than a month in office, the new government was deposed on 14 May in a coup d'état led by Lieutenant-Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka.
The 52 members of the House of Representatives were elected from two types of constituency, with candidature in each limited to one of three ethnic groups; Fijians, Indo-Fijians and General electors, generally of European or Chinese descent.
Twenty-seven members were elected from communal constituencies (12 Fijians, 12 Indo-Fijians and 3 general) in which voters voted for someone of their own ethnicity, with the remaining twenty-five elected from national constituencies (10 Fijian, 10 Indo-Fijian and 5 general) in which candidature was limited by ethnicity but all registered voters in a constituency could vote for.
Following the elections Bavadra formed a fourteen-member cabinet.[2]
| Bavadra cabinet | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | Minister | |
| Prime Minister Minister for Public Service Minister for Fijian Affairs Minister for Home Affairs | Timoci Bavadra | |
| Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Minister for Information | Harish Sharma | |
| Attorney General Minister for Justice | Jai Ram Reddy | |
| Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry | Joeli Nacola | |
| Minister for Communications, Transport and Works | Ahmed Bhamji | |
| Minister for Education, Youth and Sport | Tupeni Baba | |
| Minister of Finance and Economic Planning | Mahendra Chaudhry | |
| Minister for Foreign Affairs and Civil Aviation | Krishna Datt | |
| Minister for Health and Social Welfare | Satendra Nandan | |
| Minister for Labour and Immigration | Joeli Kalou | |
| Minister for Lands, Energy and Mineral Resources | Mosese Volavola | |
| Minister for Trade, Industry and Tourism | Navin Maharaj | |
| Minister of State for Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs | Chris Herbert | |
| Minister of State for Rural Development, Rehabilitation and Relief | Temo Sukanaivalu | |