Filipe Tuisawau Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable Ro
Filipe Tuisawau
Honorific-Suffix:MP
Office7:Minister for Communications
Prime Minister7:Sitiveni Rabuka
Term Start7:24 December 2022
Predecessor7:Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum
Office8:Minister for Public Works
Term Start8:24 December 2022
Office9:Minister for Transport
Term Start9:24 December 2022
Predecessor9:Faiyaz Koya
Constituency Mp10:PA List
Parliament10:Fijian
Term Start10:14 December 2022
Constituency Mp11:SODELPA List
Parliament11:Fijian
Term Start11:14 November 2018
Term End11:14 December 2022
Party:Social Democratic Liberal Party
People's Alliance

Ro Filipe Qaraniqio Tuisawau is a Fijian chief, politician, and Cabinet Minister. He is a member of the People's Alliance. He is the son of former National Federation Party MP Ratu Mosese Tuisawau and the nephew of former SODELPA leader Ro Teimumu Kepa.[1]

Before entering politics Tuisawu was president of the Fiji Rugby Union and also worked for the South Pacific Tourism Organisation.[2]

Tuisawu unsuccessfully contested the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua nomination for Fijian communal seat of Rewa in the 2006 Fijian general election.[3] When his aunt Ro Teimumu Kepa was selected instead, he contested the seat as an independent, but lost to her.[4] [5] Following the 2006 Fijian coup d'état he opposed the military regime's proposal for a non-iTaukei president.[6]

He was elected to the Parliament of Fiji as a SODELPA candidate in the 2018 election, and made his first speech in parliament on 30 November 2018.[7] In February 2019 he made homophobic tweets about new Zealand MP Tāmati Coffey, and said that there would be no same-sex marriage in Fiji.[8] In January 2020 he made further homophobic comments, opposing an LGBTQ fashion show.[9] [10]

In June 2019 he was elected president of SODELPA.[11] In April 2020 the High Court of Fiji ruled that his election breach the party's and the country's constitution,[12] sparking a period of bitter infighting in the party[13] [14] and culminating in the suspension of the party from parliament.[15] The split continued after the suspension was lifted, with Tuisawu backing party leader Sitiveni Rabuka.[16]

In July 2021 he was detained by police along with other opposition MPs in a government attempt to stifle dissent over its proposed land bill.[17] [18]

In September 2021 following the announcement of the People's Alliance he was one of four SODELPA MPs expected to join Rabuka's new party. Tuisawa said he would remain a SODELPA MP until the end of the parliamentary term, and make up his mind then.[19] In April 2022 he withdrew his nomination as a SODELPA candidate, saying that it had been made without his knowledge.[20] In November 2022 once parliament had been dissolved for the 2022 election he resigned from SODELPA, attributing his departure to the party split.[21] He subsequently joined the People's Alliance,[22] and contested the election as a PA candidate.[23] During the election campaign, he criticised SODELPA for allowing former military officers involved in the 2006 coup into the party,[24] and accused them of orchestrating the prosecution and imprisonment of SODELPA MP Niko Nawaikula.[25] He was elected[26] with 2041 votes.[27] On 24 December 2022 he was appointed Minister for Public Works, Communications, Transport and Meteorological Services in the coalition government of Sitiveni Rabuka.[28] His first task as Minister was to re-establish the Department of Public Works, which had been split up in 2008.[29]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bad Omen For Ro Filipe Tuisawau? . Fiji Sun . Laisa Lui . 28 June 2019 . 1 January 2023.
  2. Web site: More speak out on SODELPA list of applicants for poll tickets . Fiji Sun . Ashna Kumar . 18 April 2017 . 1 January 2023.
  3. Web site: Fijian chiefs locked in battle over seat . RNZ . 23 March 2006 . 1 January 2023.
  4. Web site: Rewa Chiefs Put In Precarious Position Over Party Politics . Fiji Sun . Nemani Delaibatiki . 6 July 2019 . 1 January 2023.
  5. Book: From Election to Coup in Fiji: The 2006 campaign and its aftermath . Bose ni Vanua and democratic politics in Rewa . Baro Saumaki . Jon Fraenkel . Stewart Firth . ANU Press . Canberra . 2007 . 213–224 .
  6. Web site: Opposition in Fiji to suggestions of non-indigenous president . RNZ . 7 January 2008 . 1 January 2023.
  7. Web site: Maiden speech by Opposition MP, Ro Filipe Tuisawau . Fiji Times . 30 November 2018 . 1 January 2023.
  8. Web site: Ro Filipe Tuisawau's Tweet Gets Attention In New Zealand . Fiji Sun . Selita Bolanavanua . 24 February 2019 . 1 January 2023.
  9. Web site: Nemani Delaibatiki: Ro Filipe's Attack On LGBTQ Community Is Hypocritical . Fiji Sun . Nemani Delaibatiki . 25 January 2020 . 1 January 2023.
  10. Web site: Labour's Tāmati Coffey slammed by Fijian MP for expecting child with male partner . Stuff . Matthew Rosenberg . 22 February 2019 . 1 January 2023.
  11. Web site: Tuisawau elected as SODELPA President . FBC News . Elenoa Turagaiviu . 28 June 2019 . 1 January 2023.
  12. Web site: Fiji high court rules election of Sodelpa president illegal . RNZ . 24 April 2020 . 1 January 2023.
  13. Web site: Division widens in Fiji opposition party . RNZ . 15 May 2020 . 1 January 2023.
  14. Web site: Fiji's SODELPA factions hold their own board meetings . RNZ . 23 May 2020 . 1 January 2023.
  15. Web site: A split in Sodelpa sees it suspended from Fiji's parliament . RNZ . 27 May 2020 . 1 January 2023.
  16. Web site: Call for unity as Fiji elections office lifts Sodelpa suspension . RNZ . 29 June 2020 . 1 January 2023.
  17. Web site: MPs taken in for questioning . FBC News . Apenisa Waqairadovu . 25 July 2021 . 1 January 2023.
  18. Web site: Fiji govt urged to scrap plan to amend Land Bill . RNZ . 1 August 2021 . 1 January 2023.
  19. Web site: Are They Joining Rabuka? . Fiji Sun . Shalveen Chand . 30 September 2021 . 1 January 2023.
  20. Web site: Ro Filipe plans next move – 'I have withdrawn my application from SODELPA' . Fiji Times . Luke Nacei . 13 April 2022 . 1 January 2023.
  21. Web site: Ro Filipe explains resignation . Fiji Times . Arieta Vakasukawaqa . 2 November 2022 . 1 January 2023.
  22. Web site: Ratu Naiqama And Others Leaving Expected: Duru . Fiji Sun . Nacanieli Tuilevuka . 1 November 2022 . 26 December 2022.
  23. Web site: 7 Women And 48 Men For The Peoples Alliance . Fiji Sun . Jone Salusalu . 11 November 2022 . 29 December 2022.
  24. Web site: 'It is total hypocrisy' – Ro Filipe on ex-soldiers joining SODELPA . Fiji Times . Arieta Vakasukawaqa . 4 November 2022 . 1 January 2023.
  25. Web site: Ro Filipe speaks out after exiting SODELPA . FBC News . Simione Tuvuki . 1 November 2022 . 1 January 2023.
  26. News: Singh . Indira . 18 December 2022 . Top 55 confirmed . FBC . live . 24 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221218063858/https://www.fbcnews.com.fj/news/fijian-elections/top-55-confirmed/ . 18 December 2022.
  27. Web site: Ro Filipe Qaraniqio Tuisawau (479) . Fijian Elections Office . 1 January 2023.
  28. Web site: Siromi Turaga sworn in as new AG . FBC News . Apenisa Waqairadovu . 24 December 2022 . 1 January 2023.
  29. Web site: Govt To Bring Back And Modernise PWD . Fiji Sun . Nacanieli Tuilevuka . 28 December 2022 . 1 January 2023.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Filipe Tuisawau".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.