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"...

 Tu'uakitau George Cokanauto (born 5 June 1945) 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 chief

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"...

 and politician. He is the scion of a distinguished family, as a son of Ratu Sir Edward Cakobau

Edward Cakobau

Ratu Sir Edward Tuivanuavou Tugi Cakobau, KBE, MC was a Fijian chief and statesman.-Life:He was born on 21 December 1908 as the son of King George Tupou II of Tonga and his Fijian "trial wife", Adi Litia Cakobau, who was a granddaughter of Seru Epenisa Cakobau, the King who forged the first...

 (a former Deputy Prime Minister and one of modern Fiji's founding fathers), and brother of the Parliamentary

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...

 Speaker, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau

Epeli Nailatikau

Brigadier-General Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, CF, LVO, OBE, MSD, OStJ, is a Fijian chief and the current President of Fiji. He has had a long career in the Military, diplomatic service, and government...

.

The 1999 election and aftermath

In the parliamentary 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, Cokanauto, 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....

 (FAP), won the Tailevu North Ovalau

Tailevu North Ovalau (Open Constituency, Fiji)

Tailevu North Ovalau Open is an electoral division of Fiji, one of 25 open constituencies elected by universal suffrage . Like the other open electorates, it came into being in 1999 and was used for the parliamentary elections of 1999, 2001, and 2006...

 Open constituency on a recount, having failed to win on the initial count by a mere two votes. Although the FAP was part of the victorious 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...

, Cokanauto was not included in the new 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...

 announced by Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry

Mahendra Chaudhry

Mahendra Pal Chaudhry is a Fijian politician and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party...

. Following disagreements over the party's nominations to the Senate

Senate (Fiji)

The Senate of Fiji is the upper chamber of Parliament. It is the less powerful of the two chambers; it may not initiate legislation, but may amend or veto it. The Senate's powers over financial bills are more restricted: it may veto them in their entirety, but may not amend them...

 and the style of leadership, Cokanauto challenged Deputy Prime Minister and Fijian Affairs Minister Adi Kuini Speed

Kuini Speed

Adi Kuini Teimumu Vuikaba Speed was a Fijian chief and politician, who served as Deputy Prime Minister in 1999 and 2000....

 for the leadership of the party on 11 September 1999. He initially ousted her, but the High Court

High Court (Fiji)

The High Court of Fiji is one of three courts established by Chapter 9 of the Constitution of Fiji—the others being the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. The Constitution empowers Parliament to create other courts; these are subordinate to the High Court, which is authorized to oversee all...

 subsequently ruled in Speed's favour. A vote to resolve the impasse narrowly confirmed Speed as leader, and Cokanauto and his supporters moved to the Opposition benches in January 2000, forming a breakaway faction of the FAP.

The interim government (2000 - 2001) and the 2001 election

Following the failure of the coup, Cokanauto was appointed on 19 July 2000 to the Cabinet of interim 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...

, as Minister for Local Government, Housing, and the Environment. His brother, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Fijian Affairs in the same government.

In 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, Cokanauto stood as an independent candidate. He was defeated by Josefa Vosanibola

Josefa Vosanibola

Josefa Bole Vosanibola is a Fijian politician, who has served as Minister for Home Affairs since 16 December 2004, when he was appointed by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase to succeed Joketani Cokanasiga...

, the candidate of Qarase's United Fiji Party.

Recent developments

Cokanauto currently (June 2005) serves as a director of the Native Land Trust Board, which administers the 83 percent of the land that is communally owned by indigenous Fijians

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...

.