Ponipate Tawase Lesavua 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, who led the now-defunct Party of National Unity, which drew most of its support from Ba

Province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

in the West of the country. The former

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

officer, who spent 20 years in the Criminal Investigation Department, was an outspoken politician, who championed what he saw as the interests of western Fiji. He has endorsed calls for a return to the former system of customary justice, in force during the colonial era, under which convicted offenders would be returned to their villages not only for punishment but also for counselling and correction, according to the ''

Fiji Times ''The Fiji Times'' is a daily English-language newspaper published in Suva, Fiji. Established in Levuka on 4 September 1869 by George Littleton Griffiths, it is Fiji's oldest newspaper still operating. ''The Fiji Times'' is owned by Motibhai Gr ...

'' (17 March 2006).

Political career

Lesavua won the Ba East Fijian communal constituency in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

in the 1999

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, as a candidate of the Party of National Unity (PANU), which he subsequently led in

Parliament 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 ...

, having also acted as Sports Minister.Fiji Sevens not in jeopardy
, ESPN Scrum, February 9, 2000, retrieved 2010-02-08 Some major political realignments followed the failed

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

of May 2000, and in the

of 2001, he was defeated by the

Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua The United Fiji Party (, , SDL) was a list of political parties in Fiji, political party in Fiji. It was founded in 2001 by Prime Minister of Fiji, Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase as a power base; it absorbed most of the Christian Democratic Alli ...

(SDL) candidate, Epeli Seavula. He was subsequently appointed to the Senate, however, by Opposition Leader

Mahendra Chaudhry Mahendra Pal Chaudhry (; 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 leader, Sitiveni Rabuka, the former trade union leader beca ...

, despite his not being member of Chaudhry's Labour Party, and served from 2001 to 2006. Lesavua changed his political affiliation twice during 2005. On 7 September 2005, Lesavua announced that he had joined the Labour Party and had applied for the party's nomination for either his old seat, or the Northwest Urban Fijian communal constituency, for the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

scheduled for mid-2006. Following the merger of PANU with the Protector of Fiji Party to form the

People's National Party The People's National Party (PNP) (PNP; ) is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Jamaica, political party in Jamaica, founded in 1938 by Norman Manley, Norman Washington Manley who served as party president unti ...

, he had quit the latter party on principle, he said, in the wake of its decision to join the Grand Coalition Initiative Group, a coalition of ethnic Fijian parties. Citing public demand, Lesavua announced on 25 November 2005 that he had decided to relaunch PANU, and would be filing within one week the necessary documents to reregister the defunct party. There was no immediate word on why he had decided not to follow through with his earlier announced decision to stand for the FLP. He confirmed on 11 January 2006 that PANU had been reregistered.

2006 election

It was announced on 12 March 2006 that Lesavua would contest his old Ba East constituency in the parliamentary election scheduled for 6–13 May. He lost to the ''

'' (SDL) candidate, Paulo Ralulu, by a 2-1 margin,LIST OF CANDIDATES FOR THE 2006 ELECTIONS
", Fiji Government, retrieved 2010-02-08 however, and said subsequently that his party's alignment with the FLP had cost him support among indigenous Fijians. In what Lesavua claimed was a breach of promise on the part of FLP leader Mahendra Chaudhry, Lesavua was not reappointed to the Senate following the elections. He subsequently became a member of the Fijian Affairs Review, but left in 2007, claiming he had been told to leave by leader Apakuki Kurusiga.Lesavua: I was told to leave
, ''

'', October 5, 2007, retrieved 2010-02-08

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lesavua, Ponipate I-Taukei Fijian members of the House of Representatives (Fiji) I-Taukei Fijian members of the Senate (Fiji) Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Party of National Unity (Fiji) politicians Fijian police officers Politicians from Ba Province