Timoci Qiolevu Silatolu, sometimes known by his chiefly title of Ratu, is a former Fijian politician. A telecommunications engineer by profession, he originates from the Chiefly village of Lomanikoro in the province of Rewa. He is married to Salome Silatolu, a school teacher. They have four children.
As a candidate of the Fijian Association Party, Silatolu was elected to represent the Rewa Fijian Communal Constituency in the House of Representatives in the general election of 1999. Although his party formed part of the People's Coalition government that was subsequently formed, Silatolu was not appointed to the Cabinet.
Silatolu was appointed Assistant Minister of Health in the interim government organized by Laisenia Qarase in July 2000. He contested the general election held to restore democracy in September 2001 as a candidate of the Conservative Alliance, comprising mostly Speight-sympathizers, but lost his seat to his cousin, Ro Teimumu Kepa of the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua.
Silatolu said that he supported the Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill, a controversial piece of legislation promoted by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase and Attorney-General Qoriniasi Bale. The legislation would have established a Commission empowered to compensate victims and pardon perpetrators of coup-related offenses.
Silatolu was convicted of involvement in the 2000 Fijian coup d'état and was sentenced to imprisonment. At one time he was facing a death sentence. [1] As of 2015, Silatolu is still serving his sentence.
Laisenia Qarase was a Fijian politician. He served as the sixth Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. After the military quashed the coup that led to the removal of Mahendra Chaudhry, Qarase joined the Interim Military Government as a financial adviser on 9 June 2000, until his appointment as Prime Minister on 4 July. He won two parliamentary elections, but a military coup removed him from power on 5 December 2006. He was later imprisoned on corruption charges brought by the military-backed regime.
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 drew its support mainly from indigenous Fijiians.
Adi Koila Mara Nailatikau is a Fijian lawyer, who has served as a diplomat and politician. She was also First Lady of Fiji from 2009 until 2015, as the wife of Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, the President of Fiji.
Ratu Tevita Momoedonu was a Fijian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Fiji twice – each time extremely briefly. Both appointments were to get around constitutional technicalities; his first term of office – on 27 May 2000 lasted only a few minutes. His second term – from 14 to 16 March 2001 was for two days. He subsequently served his country as Ambassador of Fiji to Japan. Using his chiefly title of "Taukei Sawaieke", he later led pushed for the Yasana of Ba to secede from the Burebasaga and Kubuna Confederacies to form their own fourth confederacy under the Tui Vuda, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, who died in 2011.
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 MBE is a Fijian Paramount Chief and the current speaker of the parliament. He had served as the leader of the opposition.
The Fiji coup d'état of 2000 was a civilian coup d'état by hardline i-Taukei nationalists against the elected government of an Indo-Fijian Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry on 19 May 2000. This was followed by an attempt on 27 May by President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara to assert executive authority, and then by a military coup on 29 May by Republic of Fiji Military Forces Commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama. The coups resulted in the removal of the elected government and its replacement by an interim regime headed by Josefa Iloilo. In March 2001 the Court of Appeal of Fiji ruled that the coups and interim regime were illegal. An elected government was finally restored by the 2001 Fijian general election.
Ro Teimumu Vuikaba Kepa is a Fijian chief, former Member of the Parliament of Fiji, and former leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party. She was the first Fijian woman to serve as Leader of the Opposition. She previously held the position of Deputy Prime Minister in the Qarase-led Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) government from 2001 to 2006. As the paramount chief of the Burebasaga Confederacy, she holds the title Roko Tui Dreketi.
Since attaining independence from the United Kingdom on 10 October 1970, Fijian history has been marked by exponential economic growth up to 1987, followed by relative stagnation, caused to a large extent by political instability following two military coups in 1987 and a civilian putsch in 2000. This was followed by another military coup in 2006. Rivalry between indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians, rather than ideological differences, have been the most visible cleavage of Fijian politics. Later in 2020, Fiji was hit by the global COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the economy and the daily lives of the people.
Poseci Waqalevu Bune was a Fijian civil servant, diplomat, politician and Cabinet Minister. He served as chair of the Public Service Commissioner, secretary to the Prime Minister, and as Fiji's permanent representative to the United Nations, as well as a Cabinet Minister in the governments of Mahendra Chaudhry and Laisenia Qarase, and in the military regime of Frank Bainimarama. Bune died of prostate cancer on 22 November 2023, at the age of 77.
The Tui Cakau is the Paramount Chief of Cakaudrove Province in Fiji.
Ratu Cokanauto Tu'uakitau was a Fijian chief and politician. He was the scion of a distinguished family, as a son of Ratu Sir Edward Cakobau, and brother of Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, who had served as President of Fiji from 2009 to 2015.
The "Blue Ribbon campaign" was the name for the campaign promoting support for the controversial legislation introduced by the Fijian Government in 2005 to establish a Reconciliation and Unity Commission. The name specifically comes from the blue ribbons promoted by the ruling United Fiji Party as a sign of support for the bill. This campaign had the strong support of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, Attorney General Qoriniasi Bale, and other members of the ruling coalition and was warmly welcomed by imprisoned coup instigator George Speight. The proposed Commission was intended to have the power to grant compensation to victims, and amnesty to perpetrators, of the coup d'état which deposed the elected government in May 2000.
Simione Kaitani is a former Fijian politician and Cabinet Minister in the government of Laisenia Qarase. He was tried for taking an illegal oath over the 2000 Fijian coup d'état in 2005, but acquitted. He later served as Leader of the House, until removed from office by the 2006 Fijian coup d'état.
General elections were held in Fiji between 6 and 13 May 2006.
Ratu Suliano Matanitobua is a Fijian chief, politician, and former member of the Parliament of Fiji. In 2022 he was imprisoned for corruption. He is a member of the Social Democratic Liberal Party.
Peniasi Silatolu is a Fijian politician and former member of the House of Representatives of Fiji.
Ragho Nand is a Fiji Indian former politician who was also a Minister in the multi-party cabinet following the 2006 election.
Elections to the offices of President and Vice-President of Fiji took place on 8 March 2006, when the Great Council of Chiefs met as an electoral college at the Tradewinds Convention Centre in Lami. The Great Council re-elected President Ratu Josefa Iloilo and Vice-President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi to another five-year term.
Ratu Josefa Iloilovatu Uluivuda, was a Fijian politician who served as the 3rd President of Fiji from 2000 until 2009, excluding a brief period from 5 December 2006 to 4 January 2007. He held the traditional title of Tui Vuda, the paramount chief of the Vuda district in Ba Province on Fiji's northwest coast. Like many Fijian people, he rarely used his surname and was known simply as Josefa Iloilo. He announced on 28 July 2009 that he would be leaving office on 30 July. At the age of 88, he was the world's oldest head of state.