Adi Kuini Teimumu Vuikaba Speed (23 December 1949 – 31 December 2004) was a
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), 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 ...
an
chief
Chief may refer to:
Title or rank
Military and law enforcement
* Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
* Chief of police, the head of a police department
* Chief of the boa ...
and politician, who served as
Deputy Prime Minister in 1999 and 2000.
She was the head girl at
Adi Cakobau School Adi or ADI may refer to:
Names and titles
* Adi (mythology), an Asura in Hindu faith who appears in the Matsya Purāṇa
* Adi (name), a given name in Hebrew and a nickname in other languages
* Adi (title), a Fijian title used by females of chi ...
in 1968, and went on to graduate from the
University of the South Pacific and from the
Australian National University in
Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
. She subsequently pursued a career in the Public Relations Office, which later became the Ministry of Information. On behalf of the
Fiji Public Service Association
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), 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 ...
, she led several delegations to the
United Nations.
Political career
The widow of
Fiji Labour Party founder and former
Prime Minister Timoci Bavadra, Adi Kuini became the leader of the Labour Party after her husband's death in 1989, but resigned in 1991 to take up residence for a few years in Canberra, Australia. She was succeeded by
Mahendra Chaudhry
Mahendra Pal Chaudhry ( hif, महेन्द्र पाल चौधरी; born 9 February 1942) is a Fijian politician and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party. Following a historic election in which he defeated the long-time former lead ...
as leader of the Fiji Labour Party. Adi Kuini returned to Fiji in 1994 and became leader of the
Fijian Association Party (FAP) in 1998 succeeding the former Finance Minister
Josefata Kamikamica. Under her leadership, the FAP won 11 seats in the 71-member
House of Representatives in the
election of 1999. Forming a coalition with her former party, the Fiji Labour Party Adi Kuini became one of two Deputy Prime Ministers in the coalition government led by Mahendra Chaudhry.
The Chaudhry government was deposed on 19 May 2000 in a
coup organized by
George Speight. After the coup had been put down, she refused to support the possible return of Chaudhry as Prime Minister, however, claiming that Fiji needed a less controversial leader to bring about reconciliation among Fiji's ethnic communities and repair fractured multiracial relations. In poor health following repeated operations on a brain tumor, she contested the
elections held to restore democracy in September 2001, but all of her party's candidates were defeated as the
ethnic Fijian community rallied around the
Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) of
Laisenia Qarase. Adi Kuini herself lost her
Serua-Navosa Open Constituency to the SDL's
Pio Wong.
Personal life
Adi Kuini was the daughter of ''
Ratu''
Aseri Qoro Latianara
Aseri (german: Asserin) is a small borough ( et, alevik) in Viru-Nigula Parish, Lääne-Viru County, in northeastern Estonia. As of 2011 Census, the settlement's population was 1,439, of which the Estonians were 506 (35.2%).
Notable people
* ...
(1924–1998), whom she succeeded as ''
Tui Noikoro
Tui or TUI may refer to:
Places
* Tui, Pontevedra, Spain
* Tui, Iran, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Tui, North Khorasan, North Khorasan Province, Iran
* Tui Province, Burkina Faso
* Tuis District, Costa Rica
* Tui railway station, New Zealand ...
'' Paramount Chief of
Navosa, and of
Lanieta Vuni; she herself was duly succeeded in these roles by her brother,
Ratu Tomasi Latianara.
Adi Kuini was married three times, first to
Military officer
Savenaca Draunidalo Savenaca Uluibau Draunidalo (1950 – 22 December 2007), known sometimes by his chiefly title of '' Ratu,'' was a Fijian politician, who served in the Cabinet from 2001 to 2006, when a military coup ended his ministerial career. He died in a fishi ...
(a
Minister
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
from 2001 to 2006), subsequently to Bavadra and finally to
Clive Speed, a former Director of the
Business Council of Australia. She had four children (including the well-known lawyer
Tupou Draunidalo, who became President of the
National Federation Party in 2014 and
was subsequently elected to Parliament that year) and eleven stepchildren. By the end of 2004, when she lost a long battle with
cancer, she was the grandmother of three. She is buried in
Korolevu, a two-hour drive from
Sigatoka.
Politicians remembered Adi Kuini as a committed Christian and champion of racial tolerance, and as one who fought for reform of the chiefly system by insisting on standards of accountability for all chiefs.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Speed, Adi Kuini
1949 births
2004 deaths
Fijian chiefs
I-Taukei Fijian members of the House of Representatives (Fiji)
Deaths from cancer in Fiji
Australian National University alumni
University of the South Pacific alumni
Fijian Association Party politicians
People educated at Adi Cakobau School
Fijian civil servants
Politicians from Korolevu