Jiko Fatafehi Luveni ( – 22 December 2018) was a

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

an politician and Speaker of the

Parliament of Fiji The Parliament of the Republic of Fiji is the unicameral legislature of the Fiji, Republic of Fiji. It consists of 55 members elected every 4 years using open list proportional representation in one multi-member nationwide constituency. Hist ...

. She was a member of the FijiFirst party before resigning her party membership in order to take up the position of Speaker. This was because the Fijian Speaker is not a Member of Parliament and cannot be a member of a political party pursuant to section 77(1)(a) and section 77(7)(b)(ii) of the Fijian Constitution.

Early life

The daughter of a former shopkeeper turned shipping magnate, Luveni came from the village of Nukuni on the island of Ono-i-Lau, in the Lau

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

. She was educated at

Lautoka Lautoka (, ) is the second largest List of cities and towns in Fiji#List, metropolitan area in Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Ba Province of the Western Division, Fiji, Western Division. Lying in the heart of ...

Fijian School and then at Nabua Secondary School in

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

, before enrolling in Adi Cakobau School in Sawani. She graduated from the Fiji School of Dentistry in 1967, the first Fijian woman to do so. After graduation, she worked for twenty years for the Ministry of Health, before working for the

United Nations Population Fund The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is a United Nations System, UN agency aimed at improving reproductive health, reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies and protocols, incr ...

as project manager for reproductive health from 1987 to 2002. She resigned three years ahead of the expiry of her term to take up a post as

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

project officer for the Ministry of Health, working as project manager for Fiji Network for People Living with HIV, a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

. From 2007 to 2008 Luveni served on the board of the interim Fiji Sports Council.

Political career

In January 2008 Luveni was appointed Minister of Health and then as Minister of Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation in the interim government headed by Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama. She was also co-chair of a government task team established to make recommendations regarding "social cultural identity and nation building" for the proposed

People's Charter for Change, Peace and Progress The People's Charter for Change, Peace and Progress (initially, People's Charter for Change and Progress) was a proposed legal document which would have complemented the 1997 Constitution of Fiji. It would have established compulsory guidelines f ...

. In 2013 Luveni indicated that she would stand as part of Bainimarama's proposed political party. She was elected Chairperson of the Lau Provincial Council in April 2014, succeeding

Filipe Bole Filipe Nagera Bole Order of the British Empire, CBE, Order of Fiji, CF (23 August 1936 – 19 June 2019) was a Fijian politician who hailed from the village of Mualevu on the island of Vanua Balavu in the Lau Islands, Lau Group. He had a reputatio ...

, but after being announced as a

parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

candidate for the FijiFirst party in July 2014, she resigned that post after only three months in office. She was succeeded by Ilisoni Taoba. In the 2014 election she received 2,296 votes and was elected to parliament as the 14th highest-polling Fiji First candidate. She resigned her seat immediately following the election in order to become Speaker, the first Fijian woman to hold the position. Her place as an MP was taken by Laisenia Tuitubou. She was formally elected Speaker on October 6, 2014.

Death

On 22 December 2018, Luveni died at the age of 72.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luveni, Jiko 1946 births 2018 deaths Women dentists Fijian dentists Fiji School of Medicine alumni FijiFirst politicians Health ministers of Fiji Women's ministers of Fiji I-Taukei Fijian members of the Parliament of Fiji I-Taukei Fijian people People educated at Adi Cakobau School Speakers of the Parliament of Fiji Politicians from Ono-i-Lau 21st-century Fijian women politicians Women government ministers of Fiji 20th-century dentists Women legislative speakers