Asaeli Masilaca

Last updated

Asaeli Masilaca is a former Fijian politician and member of the House of Representatives of Fiji. [1]

Originally from Nakini village, Naitasiri, Masilaca returned to his province to contest the 2001 elections after a successful career with the Fiji Sugar Corporation which saw him rise from a mill engineer to mill manager for the Penang Mill in Rakiraki in a span of 30 years.

At the 2001 Fijian general election he was elected in the Nausori Naitasiri Open Constituency as a Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua candidate. In May 2005 he claimed that the decline of Fiji's sugar industry was caused by the laziness of farmers. [2] He was narrowly re-elected in the 2006 election, winning the seat on the fourth count. [3] He was removed from office by the 2006 Fijian coup d'état.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahendra Chaudhry</span> Fijian politician (born 1942)

Mahendra Pal Chaudhry is a Fijian politician and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party. Following a historic election in which he defeated the long-time former leader, Sitiveni Rabuka, the former trade union leader became Fiji's first Indo-Fijian Prime Minister on 19 May 1999, but exactly one year later, on 19 May 2000 he and most of his Cabinet were taken hostage by coup leader George Speight, in the Fiji coup of 2000. Unable to exercise his duties, he and his ministers were sacked by President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara on 27 May; Mara intended to assume emergency powers himself but was himself deposed by the military leader, Commodore Frank Bainimarama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiji Labour Party</span> Fijian political party

The Fiji Labour Party, also known as Fiji Labour, is a political party in Fiji. Most of its support is from the Indo-Fijian community, although it is officially multiracial and its first leader was an indigenous Fijian, Dr. Timoci Bavadra. The party has been elected to power twice, with Timoci Bavadra and Mahendra Chaudhry becoming prime minister in 1987 and 1999 respectively. On both occasions, the resulting government was rapidly overthrown by a coup.

Ratu Alifereti Finau Mara was a Fijian lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was best known as the eldest son of former Prime Minister and President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. Since December 2001, he held the official position of Roving Ambassador and High Commissioner, representing Fiji's interests in Pacific Island nations. It was reported on 13 March 2006 that he had been chosen to succeed his late father as Paramount Chief of the Lau Islands, but in 2009 the succession was still unclear, with Mara reportedly refusing to discuss the issue with the village elders.

Sir Vijay Raghubar Singh, KBE was an Indo-Fijian lawyer and politician who held Cabinet office in the 1960s and 1970s. Vijay Singh served in Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara's government in a variety of positions, including Attorney-General, and was president of the Indian Alliance, a division of the ruling Alliance Party. He quit the party in 1979 following disagreement with Alliance leadership and later joined the opposition National Federation Party. Vijay Singh was involved in the restructure of the Fiji sugar industry and was a leading member of the Jaycees movement in Fiji.

Petero Mataca born at Cawaci, on Ovalau Island, served as the Roman Catholic archbishop of Suva, Fiji until his resignation in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Coalition for Fiji</span>

The Grand Coalition for Fiji, formerly known as the Grand Coalition Initiative Group, was a coalition of five predominantly indigenous Fijian political parties in Fiji, forged for the purpose of contesting the general election scheduled for 2006 under a single umbrella and forming a coalition government subsequently. Efforts to unite the ethnic Fijian parties were in part a response to their electoral defeat in 1999, when they had been split, enabling the Indian-backed FLP to win a landslide victory. Nevertheless, Tomasi Vakatora, the chairman of the Grand Coalition, publicly stated in February 2006 that it was open to sharing preferences with the predominantly Indian parties. By the time of the election, however, the coalition was virtually defunct.

Kenneth Vincent Zinck is a former Fijian trade unionist, politician and Cabinet Minister, who served as Minister of Labour in the government of Laisenia Qarase from 2001 to 2006. In the aftermath of the 2006 Fijian coup d'état he sought political asylum in Australia.

Adi Lagamu Lewaturaga Vuiyasawa is a Fijian businesswoman and former politician who served in the Senate of Fiji from November 2005 to December 2006. She was the partner and later wife of Senator Ratu Inoke Takiveikata, and the sister of Jone Baledrokadroka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nausori</span> Town in Viti Levu, Fiji

Nausori is a town in Fiji. It had a population of 57,866 at the 2017 census. This makes it the fourth most populous municipality in the country. Situated 19 kilometers from the Fijian capital Suva, it forms one pole of the burgeoning Suva-Nausori corridor. Nausori is home to three provinces Rewa, Tailevu and Naitasiri.

Naitasiri is one of the 14 provinces of Fiji and one of eight located on Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. It is located in Central Division.

Ilaitia Bulidiri Tuisese was a Fijian rugby union player, business executive, politician, and Cabinet Minister. He was a former captain of the Fiji national rugby union team and later served in Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's Cabinet from 2000 to 2006. He was chair of the board of the Fiji Sun.

Manoa Dobui is a former Fijian politician, who won the Samabula Tamavua Open Constituency in the House of Representatives for the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) in the parliamentary election of 2001. He hails from Kabara in Lau

Gyani Nand was a Fijian politician of Indian descent. He was born in Tavua and taught in a number of primary and high schools then worked as a hansard reporter and later as a diplomat in Australia and England before starting his political career.

Tulsi Ram Khelwan is an Indo-Fijian politician and former member of the Senate of Fiji. He served in the Senate from 2002 to 2006 as one of eight nominees of the Leader of the Opposition. As a Senator he advocated for reform of Fiji's sugar industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naitasiri (Fijian Communal Constituency, Fiji)</span> Former electoral constituency in Fiji

Naitasiri Fijian Provincial Communal is a former electoral division of Fiji, one of 23 communal constituencies reserved for indigenous Fijians. Established by the 1997 Constitution, it came into being in 1999 and was used for the parliamentary elections of 1999, 2001, and 2006.. The electorate was coextensive with Naitasiri Province.

The National Farmers Union' (NFU) is one of Fiji's largest trade unions. It was launched in Labasa in July 1978 under the auspices of the Fiji Trades Union Congress, with Mahendra Pal Chaudhry as its first General Secretary. The union was initially based in Vanua Levu but gradually extended its operations to Viti Levu.

Sugar Cane Growers Council represents the sugar cane farmers in Fiji. It is made up of 38 members elected by the farmers and eight members nominated by the government. The Sugar Cane Growers Council election is held every three years. The Council has a chief executive, the first one being Vijay R. Singh, and a chairman.

Jagannath Sami has been a soccer player representing a premier district side in the Fiji Football Association competitions, a leader of the sugar mill workers, a leader of a farmers' union, a politician and chief executive officer of the Sugar Cane Growers Council but he is best known for the controversy surrounding his dismissal as the CEO of the SCGC by the military regime of Commodore Josaia Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama following the military coup of 2006.

RatuRakuita Saurara Vakalalabure is a Fijian lawyer and former politician who served as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of Fiji from 2001 to 2004. In August 2004 he was convicted of participation in the 2000 Fijian coup d'état and sentenced to six years' imprisonment. He was the son of Ratu Tevita Vakalalabure, who served in both houses of Parliament from the 1970s to the 1990s.

Jone Baledrokadroka is a Fijian academic and former soldier who served briefly as Republic of Fiji Military Forces Land Force Commander in January 2006. He was dismissed from the post after only four days after RFMF Commander Frank Bainimarama accused him of planning a mutiny. He is the son of former senator and Taukei ni Waluvu Ratu Alipate Baledrokadroka and the brother of Senator Adi Lagamu Vuiyasawa. He is also the uncle for New Zealand netballer Erikana Pedersen.

References

  1. Parliament of Fiji Archived June 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Lazy farmers ruined: MP". Fiji Times. 27 May 2005. p. 3 via EBSCOHost.
  3. "Masilaca edges Lavenia to seat". Fiji Times. 18 May 2006. p. 9 via EBSCOHost.