Meli Saubulinayau
Encyclopedia
Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 Ratu
Ratu
Ratu is a title used by Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, Adi is used by females of chiefly rank.-Etymology:Ra is a prefix in many titles and Tu is simply "chief"...

 Meli Saubulinayau is a Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

an career soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...

, who, as of January 2006, headed the Strategic Unit in Suva
Suva
Suva features a tropical rainforest climate under the Koppen climate classification. The city sees a copious amount of precipitation during the course of the year. Suva averages 3,000 mm of precipitation annually with its driest month, July averaging 125 mm of rain per year. In fact,...

. He was appointed to the post at the beginning of January 2006. Previously the Acting Land Force Commander, he had been effectively the second in rank to Commodore
Commodore (rank)
Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...

 Frank Bainimarama
Frank Bainimarama
Commodore Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, CF, MSD, OStJ, Fijian Navy, known commonly as Frank Bainimarama and sometimes by the chiefly title Ratu , is a Fijian naval officer and politician. He is the Commander of the Fijian Military Forces and, as of April 2009, Prime Minister...

, the Commander Republic of Fiji Military Forces
Military of Fiji
The Republic of Fiji Military Forces are the military of the Pacific island nation of Fiji. With a total manpower of 3,500 active soldiers and 6,000 reservists, it is one of the smallest militaries in the world. However, most of its surrounding island nations have no militaries at all...

, and it was rumoured that he had been removed from this post because of differences with the Commander, but Military spokesman Captain Neumi Leweni
Neumi Leweni
Neumi Leweni is a Fijian Army officer and diplomat, who holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He hails from the Lau Islands. He joined the Military in 1974 and by 2006 was one of two official spokesmen for the Military, the other being Lieutenant Colonel Orisi Rabukawaqa. In August 2007, he...

 denied this on 13 January 2006, according to the Fiji Times
Fiji Times
The Fiji Times is a daily English-language newspaper published in Suva, Fiji. Established in Levuka on 4 September 1869, it is Fiji's oldest newspaper still operating....

.

The previous day, the Fiji Live
Fiji Live
Fijilive is an online newspaper and business and cultural directory in Fiji. The site is owned by the Future Group of Companies owned by Fiji entrepreneur Yashwant Gaunder....

 news service reported that Saubulinayau had been called in to mediate between Bainimarama and the new Acting Land Force Commander, Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...

 Jone Baledrokadroka, but Leweni and Bainimarama both denied that the confrontation, alleged to be over Bainimarama's anti-government rhetoric and threats to depose the government, had taken place. All Military meetings that day had been routine, they insisted. (See: Baledrokadroka incident
Baledrokadroka incident
The Baledrokadroka incident was a series of events taking place in the Pacific republic of Fiji in 2006, involving an ongoing public feud between the government and military. Tensions took a dramatic turn for the worse on 11-13 January, with reports of unusual troop and naval deployments, crisis...

 for further detail)

On 31 October 2006, while Bainimarama was in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 visiting Fijian forces on peacekeeping duties in the Middle East, President Ratu
Ratu
Ratu is a title used by Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, Adi is used by females of chiefly rank.-Etymology:Ra is a prefix in many titles and Tu is simply "chief"...

 Josefa Iloilo
Josefa Iloilo
Ratu Josefa Iloilovatu Uluivuda, CF, MBE, MSD, KStJ was the President of Fiji from 2000 until 2009, excluding a brief period from 5 December 2006 until 4 January 2007 . He held the traditional title of Tui Vuda, the paramount chief of the Vuda district in Ba Province on Fiji's northwest coast...

 accepted government counsel by moving to terminate the Bainimarama's command. In his place, he appointed Saubulinayau, who declined to take the position. Senior Fijian military officers publicly backed Bainimarama who reiterated previous calls for the government to resign. Saubulinayau was subsequently sent on leave pending an investigation into alleged insubordination, in connection with the attempted dismissal of Bainimarama. Saubulinayau's resignation from the military was announced in February, 2007.

Ratu
Ratu
Ratu is a title used by Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, Adi is used by females of chiefly rank.-Etymology:Ra is a prefix in many titles and Tu is simply "chief"...

 Meli Saubulinayau is from the chiefly village of Tubou
Tubou
Tubou is a village on the Fijian island of Lakeba. One of eight villages on Lakeba, it is considered the capital of the Lau Islands, being the seat of the Vuanirewa clan, a powerful chiefly family from which Fiji's longtime Prime Minister and President, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara and one of Fiji's...

, on Lakeba
Lakeba
Lakeba is an island in Fiji's Southern Lau Archipelago; the provincial capital of Lau is located here. The island is the tenth largest in Fiji, with a land area of nearly 60 square kilometers. It is fertile and well watered, and encircled by a 29-kilometer road. Its closest neighbors are Aiwa...

, making him a member of the Vuanirewa
Vuanirewa
The Vuanirewa is the ruling tribe of the Lau Islands, a scattered group of more than a hundred islands and reefs along the eastern edge of Fiji.- Origins :...

, the ruling household of the Lau Islands
Lau Islands
The Lau Islands of Fiji are situated in the southern Pacific Ocean, just east of the Koro Sea. Of this chain of about one hundred islands and islets, about thirty are inhabited...

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