Epeli Nailatikau | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 2ndSpeaker of the Parliament | |
| In office 11 February 2019 – 24 December 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Frank Bainimarama |
| Preceded by | Jiko Luveni |
| Succeeded by | Naiqama Lalabalavu |
| President of Fiji | |
| In office 30 July 2009 – 12 November 2015 Acting: 30 July 2009 – 5 November 2009 | |
| Prime Minister | Frank Bainimarama |
| Preceded by | Josefa Iloilo |
| Succeeded by | George Konrote |
| Speaker of the House of Representatives of Fiji | |
| In office 2001–2006 | |
| Preceded by | Apenisa Kurisaqila |
| Succeeded by | Pita Nacuva |
| Vice-President of Fiji | |
| In office 17 April 2009 – 30 July 2009 | |
| President | Josefa Iloilo |
| Preceded by | Joni Madraiwiwi (2006) |
| Succeeded by | Office Abolished |
| Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji | |
| In office August 2000 – 2001 | |
| Prime Minister | Laisenia Qarase |
| Succeeded by | Tupeni Baba |
| In office 2001 – September 2001[1] | |
| Prime Minister | Laisenia Qarase |
| Preceded by | Tupeni Baba |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1941-07-05)5 July 1941 (age 84) |
| Party | Independent |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent |
|
Brigadier-GeneralRatuEpeli Nailatikau,CF,LVO,OBE,MSD,KStJ (Fijian pronunciation:[epelinailatʃikau]; born 5 July 1941) (often referred to asNa Turaga Mai Naisogolaca) is aFijian chief who wasPresident of Fiji from 2009 to 2015. He has had a long career in theMilitary,diplomatic service, and government. From 2001 to 2006 he served asSpeaker of theHouse of Representatives – the lower and more powerful chamber of the FijianParliament. He was also the chairman of the Parliamentary Appropriations Committee and of the House Committee. On 8 January 2007, he was appointed the interimMinister for Foreign Affairs andExternal Trade; he was moved to the post of interim Minister for Provincial Development and Multi-Ethnic Affairs in September 2008. In October 2008, he became Indigenous Affairs Minister "and effectivelyGreat Council of Chiefs chairman".[2] On 17 April 2009, he was appointedVice-President by themilitary government.[3][4]
On 30 July 2009, he became acting president after the retirement of PresidentJosefa Iloilo.[5] On 5 November 2009, he was sworn in as President of Fiji.[6]George Konrote was elected to succeed him in October 2015.
On 11 February 2019, he became the newly appointed Speaker of the Fijian Parliament, winning 30 votes against 21 to Opposition nominee and Suva lawyer,Tanya Waqanika.[7]
Born to a family of politically powerful chieftains, Nailatikau's career spanned 20 years in themilitary and 17 years in thediplomatic service. Following his education at Bau District School, Draiba Fijian School, Levuka Public School andQueen Victoria School, Nailatikau trained as a soldier inNew Zealand. In 1966, he served on secondment in the 1st Battalion,Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment and was posted toSarawak,Malaysia, duringIndonesia's "Konfrontasi" against Malaysia. He proved to be a popular and highly respected officer. When he returned to theFiji Infantry Regiment, he rose steadily through the ranks. By 1987, he held the rank of Brigadier-General, and was the Commander of the Royal Fiji Military Forces. While visiting Australia, he was deposed from this position, however, when the third-ranked officer, Lieutenant-ColonelSitiveni Rabuka stagedthe first of two coups and seized power.
Nailatikau retired from the Army and decided to pursue a new career in the diplomatic service. After completing the Foreign Service Course atOxford University in theUnited Kingdom, he was appointedHigh Commissioner to the United Kingdom and accredited as Fiji'sambassador toDenmark,Egypt,Germany,Israel and theHoly See. He was later appointed Fiji's roving ambassador and high commissioner to the member states of theSouth Pacific Forum, before taking up a post as Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Trade in 1999.
In the aftermath of the failure of theFiji coup of 2000, a coup which Nailatikau strongly opposed, he was nominated for the position ofPrime Minister, to help rebuild Fiji's shattered institutions.[8] He withdrew his nomination, however, in favour ofLaisenia Qarase, who was considered more of a consensus candidate, but becameDeputy Prime Minister andMinister for Fijian Affairs in the interimCabinet. He was appointedDeputy Prime Minister in August 2000.[9] He was appointed againDeputy Prime Minister ofLaisenia Qarase in 2001 and served until September 2001, when he was elected theSpeaker.[1] In 2001, after democracy had been restored in ageneral election, he defeated, by a vote of 41 to 29,Joeli Kalou for the position ofSpeaker of the House of Representatives, a position he held until after the 2006 elections.
Following thecoup d'état of 5 December 2006, he was sworn in as Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade in the new interim government ofPrime MinisterCommodoreFrank Bainimarama on 8 January 2007.[10]
He was nominated to become the new vice-president by the Fiji presidentRatuJosefa Iloilo on 10 April 2007,[11] but was rejected by theGCC.[12] On 17 April 2009, after Fiji experienced a constitutional crisis, Ratu Epeli was appointed vice president.[13]
Nailatikau served as interim Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Co-operation and Civil Aviation under Prime MinisterFrank Bainimarama, beginning in January 2007. On 23 September 2008, Bainimarama said that Nailatikau would be moved to the post of Minister for Provincial Development and Multi-Ethnic Affairs on 5 October 2008, while Bainimarama would take over his previous duties. According to Bainimarama, he "decided to give him this new responsibility given his extensive knowledge and hands-on experience on the workings of the Civil Service, Governments role in rural development and the sources of assistances available to facilitate such development", while also stating that Nailatikau had "excellent public relations appeal, which is very much needed in outreaching and inter-facing with rural people."[14]
On 25 September 2007, Epeli was appointed acting prime minister while interim Prime Minister,Frank Bainimarama, was away inNew York for the week.[15]
On 30 July 2009, he became acting president after the retirement of 88-year-old President Iloilo.[5] The president was supposed to be appointed by theGreat Council of Chiefs (effectively abolished by the military-backed regime) under the1997 constitution that Iloilo had abrogated, but Bainimarama announced that a new president would be appointed by his cabinet at the regime's convenience. Nailatikau was formally appointed to the office on 5 November 2009.
On 14 June 2005, Nailatikau was appointed theUNAIDS special representative for the Pacific. According to theJoint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, he was chosen because his political position, his respect throughout the Pacific region, and his outspokenness onAIDS-related issues. He had previously served as a UNAIDS Pacific spokesman, and in October 2004 chaired the first conference of Pacific Parliamentarians on the Role of Pacific Parliamentarians in the fight against HIV/AIDS, inSuva.
Nailatikau's outspoken calls to tackle the AIDS crisis have attracted controversy. On 22 November 2005, he called on people to recognise the reality that promiscuity existed, and thatsafe sex needed to be promoted to combat the associated AIDS risk. It was unrealistic to deny promiscuity and just promote abstinence, he considered, adding that this was a matter of life and death. He also called on churches to face the reality that promiscuity existed among their own congregations, and to meet the problem "head on" and play a part in promoting the use of condoms.
He represented theCommonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)[16] at the World AIDS Conference in Toronto in August 2006.
As a chief by birth through his paternal side via his maternal grandmother, who is the granddaughter of Ratu Seru Cakobau, Epeli Nailatikau has the title ofRatu. He is the second son ofRatu Edward Cakobau, who commanded theFijian Battalion inWorld War II. He is also a great-great-grandson ofSeru Epenisa Cakobau from his granddaughter Litia Cakobau, the firstmonarch to rule over a unified Fijian kingdom after conquering all the tribes of Fiji and uniting them under his leadership, and who ceded the Fiji Islands to the United Kingdom in 1874. In addition, he is a grandson ofKingGeorge Tupou II ofTonga. His father is the product of issue between King George Tupou II and Litia Cakobau who was sent to Tonga as a trial bride to the King but this was later repudiated as they could not marry under the normal Tongan constitution.
In 1981, he marriedAdi Koila Mara, the second daughter of modern Fiji's former prime minister andpresidentRatu Sir Kamisese Mara. Adi Koila has also been a politician; like her husband, she was a Member of Parliament, Cabinet minister, andSenator. They have two children: a son, Kamisese Vuna (named after Adi Koila's father), and a daughter, Litia Cakobau.
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Companions of theOrder of Fiji (CF)
Meritorious Service Decoration (MSD)
Tonga:
Grand Cross of theOrder of the Crown of Tonga (31 July 2008).[17]
United Kingdom:
Honorary Lieutenant of theRoyal Victorian Order (LVO)_Ribbon.svg)
Honorary Officer of theOrder of the British Empire (OBE)_ribbon_-vector.svg)
Knight of theMost Venerable Order of Saint John (KStJ){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). People's Daily Online. 11 April 2007{{cite web}}:|archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link). Radio Fiji. 17 April 2009
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Commander of theMilitary Forces 1982–1987 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Speaker of the House of Representatives 2001–2006 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Foreign Affairs 2007–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Vice President of Fiji 2009 | Position abolished |
| Preceded by | President of Fiji 2009–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Speaker of the Parliament 2019–2022 | Succeeded by |
| Queen (1970–1987) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| President (from 1987) | ||
§Head of the military regime | ||
