Sani Elia Lagigietama Lakatani (born 4 June 1936) is a former Premier of

Niue Niue is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand. It is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia, and predominantly inhabited by Polynesians. One of the world's largest coral islands, Niue is c ...

. He was a member of the

Niue People's Party The Niue People's Party (also known as the Niue People's Action Party) was a political party in Niue. Founded in 1987 by Niueans living in New Zealand, it was disbanded in 2003. It was, during that time, the country's only political party. The pa ...

Early life

Lakatani served in the

New Zealand Army The New Zealand Army (, ) is the principal Army, land warfare force of New Zealand, a component of the New Zealand Defence Force alongside the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Formed in 1845, as the New Zealand Mil ...

as a corporal. He was deployed to

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

as part of the Whiskey2 deployment.

Political career

Early career

He was first elected to the

Niue Assembly The Niue Assembly or Niue Parliament () is the legislature of Niue. It consists of 20 members; 14 representatives of the villages and 6 elected on a common island-wide roll. Members are directly elected by universal suffrage, and serve a three- ...

in the 1990 election as a candidate for

Young Vivian Mititaiagimene Young Vivian (born 12 November 1935) is a Niuean politician and diplomat, who served as Premier of Niue twice, the first time from December 1992 to March 1993 following the death of Sir Robert Rex, and the second from 2002 to ...

's Niue People's Action Party (NPAP). On election night the NPAP believed it had a majority, but a leadership dispute between Vivian and Lakatani saw a group of MP's led by the latter switch sides to support Premier Robert Rex, who was elected on a 12–8 vote. Lakatani was appointed to Rex's Cabinet as Minister of Finance, but was sacked just five months later after circulating a petition calling for a change of leadership. He was re-elected in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

and reappointed Finance Minister by

Frank Lui Frank Fakaotimanava Lui (19 November 1935 – 9 July 2021) was a Niuean politician, who served as the premier of the Pacific Island state of Niue from 1993 to 1999. Early life Lui was raised by his grandparents on Niue after his parents and ...

. He resigned in March 1994, but was reinstated by Lui in the leadup to a confidence vote. He subsequently lost his finance portfolio in a cabinet reshuffle in October 1994 and resigned from Cabinet on 8 November. Lakatani joined the opposition, which organised itself into the

and effectively deadlocked the assembly. With other members of the opposition, Lakatani boycotted meetings of the Public Expenditure Committee, and as a result his seat was declared vacant in August 1995. He was reinstated after a successful challenge before the High Court and the new Niue Court of Appeal, but in the interim was re-elected, coming sixth on the common roll in the 1996 election. In October 1995 Lakatani was charged with 22 counts of bribery and two of official corruption. Most of the charges were dismissed after the Niue Court of Appeal found that the law against corruption did not apply to Members of the Assembly, and the remaining charges were later dropped.

Premiership

Lakatani was re-elected at the

1999 Niuean general election General elections were held in Niue on 19 March 1999 to determine the composition of the twenty member national Assembly. Fourteen incumbents retained their seats, with Premier Frank Lui a notable exception. Following the election, the Niue P ...

, placing third on the common roll with 474 votes. He was subsequently elected leader of the

, and was elected Premier, defeating

O'Love Jacobsen Tauveve O’Love Jacobsen is a Niuean politician and diplomat. She served as Niue's High Commissioner to New Zealand from 2011 to 2017. Her predecessor was Sisilia Talagi, Niue's first female diplomat and High Commissioner. She had previousl ...

by 14 votes to 6. As Premier, he cut the pay of MPs, unsuccessfully attempted to obtain a loan from the

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world. The bank was establishe ...

to counteract declining assistance from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and attempted to establish an airline. In July 1999 he was hospitalised in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

and underwent a double bypass heart operation. In his absence, the growing unpopularity of his government saw it lose its majority. A no-confidence vote in December resulted in a 10–10 tie, a judicial challenge, and an opposition walkout. In 2000, he narrowly avoided bankruptcy over a personal guarantee given for the debt of a Niue business, and this resulted in a further confidence vote which was again tied, 9-9. Lakatani faced a further confidence vote in November 2000. While Prime Minister he served as Chancellor of the

University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the gov ...

Later career

He was re-elected in 2002 Niuean general election, but his dictatorial leadership style saw him lose the leadership of the People's Party to

, who subsequently became Premier, with Lakatani as his Deputy. In August 2002 he was sacked from Cabinet after voting against the budget. In 2003 he took an extended leave from the Assembly to look after his wife in Auckland. He resigned from the Assembly in June 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lakatani, Sani 1936 births Living people Premiers of Niue Members of the Niue Assembly Niue People's Party politicians Ministers of finance of Niue New Zealand Army personnel