Timoci Qiolevu Silatolu, sometimes known by his chiefly title of 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"...

, is a former 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 politician.

Political career

As a candidate of the Fijian Association Party

Fijian Association Party

The Fijian Association Party is a former political party in Fiji. It played a significant role in Fijian politics throughout the 1990s, but lost all of its seats in the House of Representatives in the parliamentary election of 2001....

, Silatolu was elected to represent the Rewa

Rewa (Fijian Communal Constituency, Fiji)

Rewa Fijian Provincial Communal is an electoral division of Fiji, one of 23 communal constituencies reserved for indigenous Fijians....

 Fijian

Fijian people

Fijian people are the major indigenous people of the Fiji Islands, and live in an area informally called Melanesia. The Fijian people are believed to have arrived in Fiji from western Melanesia approximately 3,500 years ago, though the exact origins of the Fijian people are unknown...

 Communal Constituency

Communal constituencies (Fiji)

Communal constituencies have been the most durable feature of the Fijian electoral system. In communal constituencies, electors enrolled as ethnic Fijians, Indo-Fijians, Rotuman Islanders, or General Electors vote for a candidate of their own respective ethnic groups, in constituencies that have...

 in the House of Representatives

House of Representatives (Fiji)

The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of Fiji's Parliament. It is the more powerful of the two chambers; it alone has the power to initiate legislation...

 in the general election

Fiji election of 1999

General elections were held in Fiji between 8 and 15 May 1999. They were the first election held under the revised Constitution of 1997, which instituted a new electoral system and resulted in Mahendra Chaudhry taking office as Fiji's first Indo-Fijian Prime Minister.-Electoral system:Previously,...

 of 1999. Although his party formed part of the People's Coalition

People's Coalition (Fiji)

The People's Coalition was an alliance of three political parties in Fiji, formed in March 1999 to contest the parliamentary election to be held in May that year...

 government that was subsequently formed, Silatolu was not appointed to the Cabinet

Cabinet (Fiji)

Fiji has the Westminster system - executive authority is vested nominally in a President, but exercised in practice by a Cabinet of Ministers, presided over by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is formally appointed, but not chosen, by the President: the President must appoint as Prime...

.

Silatolu was appointed Assistant Minister of Health in the interim government organized by Laisenia Qarase

Laisenia Qarase

Laisenia Qarase is a Fijian political figure. He served as the sixth Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. After the military quashed the coup that led to the removal of Mahendra Chaudhry, Qarase joined the Interim Military Government as a financial adviser on 9 June 2000, until his appointment...

 in July 2000. He contested the general election

Fiji election of 2001

The Constitution of Fiji was restored by a High Court decision on 15 November 2000, following the failure of the political upheaval in which the government had been deposed and the constitution suspended in May that year. On 1 March 2001, the Appeal Court upheld the decision. An election to...

 held to restore democracy in September 2001 as a candidate of the Conservative Alliance

Conservative Alliance (Fiji)

The Conservative Alliance was a far-right political party in Fiji, and a member of the ruling coalition government. It was commonly known as the CAMV, a combination of the initials of its English and Fijian names...

, comprising mostly Speight-sympathizers, but lost his seat to his cousin, Ro Teimumu Kepa

Teimumu Kepa

Teimumu Vuikaba Kepa is a Fijian chief and politician. A former students' coordinator at the University of the South Pacific when Kepa chose to enter the University to embark on her Bachelor of Arts Degree and was a principal of Corpus Christi Collegebefore that, until she succeeded her late...

 of the United Fiji Party.

Support for Unity Bill

Silatolu said that he supported the Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill

Reconciliation and Unity Commission (Fiji)

The Reconciliation and Unity Commission is a proposed government body to be set up if the Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill, which was introduced into the Fijian Parliament on 4 May 2005 is passed...

, a controversial piece of legislation promoted by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase

Laisenia Qarase

Laisenia Qarase is a Fijian political figure. He served as the sixth Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. After the military quashed the coup that led to the removal of Mahendra Chaudhry, Qarase joined the Interim Military Government as a financial adviser on 9 June 2000, until his appointment...

 and Attorney-General

Attorney-General (Fiji)

Fiji's chief governmental legal officer is the Attorney General. According to the Constitution of Fiji, the Attorney-General is required to be a qualified lawyer and sits in the Cabinet. The office of the Attorney-General is the oldest surviving executive office in Fiji, having been established...

 Qoriniasi Bale

Qoriniasi Bale

Qoriniasi Babitu Bale is a lawyer and political leader, who has served twice as Fiji's Minister for Justice and Attorney-General, most recently from 2001 to 2006, when he was deposed in the military coup of 5 December...

. The legislation establishes a Commission empowered to compensate victims and pardon perpetrators of coup-related offenses.

Coup

Silatolu was involved in an alleged coup and served time in jail. At one time he was facing a death sentence.