Pita Kewa Nacuva is a Fijian politician, [1] who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from June to December 2006, when a military coup deposed the government and resulted in the dissolution of Parliament. Previously, he had served in the Cabinet [1] as Minister for Tourism.
Nacuva, a former diplomat, was appointed Minister for Health in the interim government that was formed in July 2000 the wake of the failed Fiji coup of 2000, which deposed the elected government of Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry before being quashed by the Military. In the election held to restore democracy in September 2001, he won the Nadroga-Navosa Fijian Communal Constituency for the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL), and was subsequently appointed Minister for Tourism. He has also stood in for Foreign Minister Kaliopate Tavola in many of Tavola's absences from Fiji.
The Fiji Village news service announced on 21 March 2006 that the SDL had decided not to nominate Nacuva for another Parliamentary term. He would therefore retire at the general election to be held on 6–13 May, though he did in fact make a token bid for another constituency, mainly to raise his party's profile. Following the election, he was elected unopposed on 5 June to succeed Ratu Epeli Nailatikau as Parliamentary Speaker, a position from which incumbent members were constitutionally barred.
Pita Kewa Nacuva is a former student of Lelean Memorial School, a former Captain of the Lelean Old Boys Rugby Club and the Fiji national rugby side. He is a keen tennis player as well.
The United Fiji Party was a political party in Fiji. It was founded in 2001 by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase as a power base; it absorbed most of the Christian Democratic Alliance and other conservative groups, and its endorsement by the Great Council of Chiefs (Bose Levu Vakaturaga) caused it to be widely seen as the successor to the Alliance Party, the former ruling party that had dominated Fijian politics from the 1960s to the 1980s. It draws its support mainly from indigenous Fijiians.
Tupeni Lebaivalu Baba is a Fijian academic and politician, who founded the now-defunct New Labour Unity Party. Most members of this party later merged with several other centrist parties to form the Fiji Democratic Party. A former Professor of Education at the University of the South Pacific (USP), he later served as a senior research fellow at the Centre for Pacific Studies at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, from 2001 to the end of 2005. In the general election scheduled for 6–13 May 2006, Baba attempted a political comeback, this time on the ticket of the ruling Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL), a political switch that generated a considerable degree of public discussion. Although his bid was unsuccessful, he was subsequently appointed to the Senate as one of nine nominees of the Fijian government.
The National Federation Party is a Fijian political party founded by A.D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Federation Party and the National Democratic Party. Though it claimed to represent all Fiji Islanders, it was supported, in practice, almost exclusively by Indo-Fijians whose ancestors had come to Fiji, mostly as indentured labourers, between 1879 and 1916. However, in the 2018 General elections the party recorded a considerable change in its support base as a consequent of the inclusion of more indigenous Fijian candidates.
The Conservative Alliance was a right-wing political party in Fiji, and a member of the ruling coalition government. It was commonly known as the CAMV, a combination of the initials of its English and Fijian names. At its annual general meeting on 17 February 2006, the party voted to dissolve itself and merge with its coalition partner, the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL). The President of the party at the time of its dissolution was Ratu Tanoa Cakobau, a Bauan chief, while Ratu Josefa Dimuri served as General Secretary. For legal reasons, Parliamentary members of the disbanded party maintained a separate caucus in the House of Representatives, under the leadership of Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, until the end of the parliamentary term, on 27 March 2006.
Ratu Naiqama Tawake Lalabalavu is a Fijian Paramount Chief and Member of Parliament. He has been serving as the leader of the opposition since 8 December 2020.
The Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT), occasionally known in English as Fijian Political Party, was a party which dominated politics in the 1990s and was the mainstay of coalition governments from 1992 to 1999.
Josefa Bole Vosanibola is a Fijian politician, who served as Minister for Home Affairs from 16 December 2004, when he was appointed by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase to succeed Joketani Cokanasiga, to 5 December 2006, when his government was deposed in a military coup. Prior to his appointment as Home Affairs Minister, he had served as Minister for Information, and before that as Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation, following his election to represent the Tailevu North Ovalau Open Constituency, as a candidate of the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL), in the parliamentary election of 2001.
Poseci Waqalevu Bune is a former Fijian politician, who has served as Deputy Leader of the Fiji Labour Party (FLP). From June to December 2006, he served as Minister for the Environment, one of nine FLP ministers, in the multiparty Cabinet of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. His ministerial career was terminated by the coup d'état that deposed the government on 5 December 2006, but on January 8, 2007, he was appointed as Minister for Public Service and Public Service Reform in the interim Cabinet of Commodore Frank Bainimarama.
Kaliopate Tavola is a Fijian Agricultural economist, diplomat, and politician, who was his country's Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2000 to 2006. He was also Minister for External Trade and Minister for Sugar.
Mick Malcolm Millis Beddoes, widely known as Mick Beddoes, is a Fijian politician and businessman from Nadi, who led the United Peoples Party from 2000 to 2013, and was the Leader of the Opposition at the time of the military coup of 5 December 2006. He was also the Chief Executive of the World Netball Company, and was Chairman of the organising committee for the 2007 World Netball Championships, but announced his resignation on 24 January 2006, citing a possible conflict of interest, as his company would be working as a ground operator during the championships.
Simione Kaitani is a former Fijian politician. He was previously a Cabinet Minister from 2001 to 2006, serving initially as Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation, and later as Information Minister. He resigned these portfolios in favour of Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu on 20 September 2005, but remained in the Cabinet as a Minister without portfolio. Following the general election of 2006, he was appointed Leader of the House, and as such was responsible for the conduct of government business in the House of Representatives. He remained in this position until the military coup that overthrew the government on 5 December 2006.
Fiji–India relations refer to foreign relations between Fiji and India. Fiji has a high commission in New Delhi, whilst India has a high commission in Suva.
Tomasi Vuetilovoni, commonly known as Tom Vuetilovoni, is a former Fijian politician, who was Minister for Tourism and Transport in 2006, following the parliamentary election held on 6–13 May that year. Previously, he served as Minister for Commerce, Business Development, and Investment from July 2000, when he joined the interim government that was formed in the wake of the failed Fiji coup of 2000. In the election held to restore democracy in September 2001, Vuetilovoni won the Ra Fijian Communal constituency for the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL), and retained his Cabinet post subsequently.
Konisi Tabu Yabaki was a Fijian politician from the southern Kadavu Island. He served in the Cabinet from 2000 to 2006, but lost his portfolios as Minister for Fisheries and Forests after the parliamentary election of 6–13 May 2006. He was subsequently appointed Chairman of the parliamentary committee on Social Services.
Ilaitia Bulidiri Tuisese is a former Fijian politician, who served in Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's Cabinet from 2000 to 2006.
Mitieli Bulanauca is a Fijian politician, Member of the Parliament of Fiji, and former Cabinet Minister.
Ratu Suliano Matanitobua is a Fijian chief, member of the Parliament of Fiji, and former Cabinet Minister. He is a member of the Social Democratic Liberal Party.
Rajesh Singh is a Fijian politician of Indian descent, who briefly held Cabinet office in mid-2006.
Lelean Memorial School is one of the largest co-ed schools in Fiji. It was established in 1943 and is run by the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma. It is co-located at the Davuilevu Methodist Compound with the Davuilevu Theological College and the Young People's Department, which runs training for Methodist catechists.