Filipe Tuisawau | |
|---|---|
 Filipe Tuisawau in 2023 | |
| Minister for Communications | |
| Assumed office 24 December 2022 | |
| President | Sitiveni Rabuka |
| Preceded by | Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum |
| Minister for Public Works | |
| Assumed office 24 December 2022 | |
| Minister for Transport | |
| Assumed office 24 December 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Faiyaz Koya |
| Member of the Fijian Parliament for PA List | |
| Assumed office 14 December 2022 | |
| Member of the Fijian Parliament for SODELPA List | |
| In office 14 November 2018 –14 December 2022 | |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Social Democratic Liberal Party People's Alliance |
Ro Filipe Qaraniqio Tuisawau is a Fijian chief,politician,and Cabinet Minister. He is a member of the People's Alliance. He is the son of former National Federation Party MP Ratu Mosese Tuisawau and the nephew of former SODELPA leader Ro Teimumu Kepa. [1]
Before entering politics Tuisawu was president of the Fiji Rugby Union and also worked for the South Pacific Tourism Organisation. [2]
Tuisawu unsuccessfully contested the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua nomination for Fijian communal seat of Rewa in the 2006 Fijian general election. [3] When his aunt Ro Teimumu Kepa was selected instead,he contested the seat as an independent,but lost to her. [4] [5] Following the 2006 Fijian coup d'état he opposed the military regime's proposal for a non-iTaukei president. [6]
He was elected to the Parliament of Fiji as a SODELPA candidate in the 2018 election,and made his first speech in parliament on 30 November 2018. [7] In February 2019 he made homophobic tweets about new Zealand MP Tāmati Coffey,and said that there would be no same-sex marriage in Fiji. [8] In January 2020 he made further homophobic comments,opposing an LGBTQ fashion show. [9] [10]
In June 2019 he was elected president of SODELPA. [11] In April 2020 the High Court of Fiji ruled that his election breach the party's and the country's constitution, [12] sparking a period of bitter infighting in the party [13] [14] and culminating in the suspension of the party from parliament. [15] The split continued after the suspension was lifted,with Tuisawu backing party leader Sitiveni Rabuka. [16]
In July 2021 he was detained by police along with other opposition MPs in a government attempt to stifle dissent over its proposed land bill. [17] [18]
In September 2021 following the announcement of the People's Alliance he was one of four SODELPA MPs expected to join Rabuka's new party. Tuisawa said he would remain a SODELPA MP until the end of the parliamentary term,and make up his mind then. [19] In April 2022 he withdrew his nomination as a SODELPA candidate,saying that it had been made without his knowledge. [20] In November 2022 once parliament had been dissolved for the 2022 election he resigned from SODELPA,attributing his departure to the party split. [21] He subsequently joined the People's Alliance, [22] and contested the election as a PA candidate. [23] During the election campaign,he criticised SODELPA for allowing former military officers involved in the 2006 coup into the party, [24] and accused them of orchestrating the prosecution and imprisonment of SODELPA MP Niko Nawaikula. [25] He was elected [26] with 2041 votes. [27] On 24 December 2022 he was appointed Minister for Public Works,Communications,Transport and Meteorological Services in the coalition government of Sitiveni Rabuka. [28] His first task as Minister was to re-establish the Department of Public Works,which had been split up in 2008. [29]
