Simione Kaitani
Encyclopedia
Simione Kaitani is a Fiji
an politician, who currently serves as Leader of the House, and as such is responsible for the conduct of government business in the House of Representatives
. He was previously a Cabinet Minister
from 2001 to 2006, serving initially as Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation, and later as Information Minister. He resigned these portfolios in favour of Ratu
Naiqama Lalabalavu
on 20 September 2005, but remained in the Cabinet as a Minister without portfolio
, until his appointment as Leader of the House.
Kaitani was first elected to the House of Representatives
as an independent candidate to represent the Lomaiviti
Fijian
Communal constituency
in the general election
of 1999, and later joined the Christian Democratic Alliance
(VLV). The VLV disintegrated in the political realignment that followed the coup, but Kaitani joined the newly formed United Fiji Party (SDL), and retained his seat in the election
of 2001 as an SDL candidate. He was subsequently appointed to the Cabinet.
which deposed elected government in May 2000. Among other things, he was accused of taking an illegal oath of ministerial office on 20 May 2000, to join the so-called Taukei Cabinet of George Speight
, the chief instigator of the coup.
Kaitani had appeared in court on 23 May along with four other defendants. One pleaded guilty to the charges against him and apologised. The others, including Kaitani, all pleaded not guilty. The trial of all except Tanaburenisau began on 17 June. A number of witnesses were summoned, among them the Parliamentary Secretary, Mary Chapman
, and Senator
Mitieli Bulanauca
, who was given immunity to testify.
On 1 August, Kaitani's defence lawyers Iqbal Khan and Rabo Matebalavu called for the charges against Kaitani and his fellow-accused to be dismissed on the grounds that twelve state witnesses who testified, including New Zealand
Police
handwriting expert David Boot, had failed to conclusively link the accused to their alleged crime. Kaitani said that of the ten thousand people who had gathered in the parliamentary complex when the crisis was at its height, not one had seen him taking an oath or signing any documents. He questioned why the three alleged witnesses, including former Vice-President Seniloli, had not been called to give evidence against him. Judge Anthony Gates
dismissed the application on 9 August, however, ordering the trial to continue.
Also on 9 August, Kaitani filed an unsworn statement in court that he had deliberately remained in the parliamentary complex during the upheaval, not to support the rebels, but to use his skills as a qualified conflict management trainer to calm the situation. "In my professional capacity, I simply could not leave the parliamentary complex and watch it being taken over," he said. "I decided to take the bull by the horn and remain there." He continued to deny having taken an oath or signing an oath. "I did not take an oath of allegiance or sign any documents," he declared, adding that the first he knew of his alleged unconstitutional ministerial appointment was from a newspaper.
In her summing up, however, state prosecutor Ashishna Prasad said that in the course of several police interviews, neither Kaitani nor his fellow accused had denied their involvement in the swearing-in ceremony on 20 May 2000. All of them, she said, had been seen to have spent two minutes in a room with Seniloli, who had been appointed President by Speight, after which they gave one another congratulatory handshakes when they left. She rejected Kaitani's defence that he "shook hands with everyone he meets to express the love and affection of God", saying it was a clear indication that he had sworn a ministerial oath. She quoted Kaitani as having told the police, "Yes, it looks like mine" when shown the oath form. She further alleged that Kaitani had insisted on having his name correctly typed on the form where that of Ratu Kinijoji Maivalili
, who had declined appointment to the Primary Industries portfolio, had been crossed out.
On 12 August 2005, five court assessors unanimously reached a "not guilty" verdict concerning Kaitani and his co-accused. The decision was not binding on Judge Anthony Gates
, but he ratified their verdict on 15 August, saying that those who had testified had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Kaitani and his associates were guilty of the charges specified.
announced that Kaitani had been relieved of his Transport and Civil Aviation portfolio to make way for Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, the Tui Cakau
(Paramount Chief of the Tovata Confederacy
) and leader of the Conservative Alliance
, following Lalabalavu's release from a prison sentence that he had served extramurally on coup-related charges. Kaitani said it was an honour for the people of Lomaiviti
to make way for a paramount chief. He would remain in the Cabinet as a Minister without portfolio in the Prime Minister's office, Qarase said.
On 26 September, Opposition Leader
Mahendra Chaudhry
stated his intention to approach the Electoral Commission and the office of the Auditor-General to investigate Kaitani's new appointment. He said that Kaitani's job description as a Minister without portfolio, "undertaking various responsibilities in the Office of the PM (Prime Minister) at the direction of the PM ... to include close liaison with all ministers and travelling throughout the country to inform the people of the Government's development activities and to get a feedback from them on community development needs," indicated that Kaitani's appointment was a government ploy to have a person receiving a Ministerial salary to perform party political work for the ruling SDL. He called this an "abuse of office," and said it had become "a hallmark" of the Qarase government. "I have decided to refer this matter to the Electoral Commission and the Office of the Auditor-General for further investigation and necessary action," Chaudhry said.
Village in Ba Province on 14 December 2005, he was reelected to another two-year term. Ratu Ilaitia Vakalalabure, Cakaudrove
youth president, was elected Vice-President.
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, who currently serves as Leader of the House, and as such is responsible for the conduct of government business 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...
. He was previously a Cabinet Minister
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...
from 2001 to 2006, serving initially as Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation, and later as Information Minister. He resigned these portfolios in favour 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"...
Naiqama Lalabalavu
Naiqama Lalabalavu
Ratu Naiqama Tawake Lalabalavu is a Fijian Paramount Chief and politician. He was the Minister for Lands and Minister for Mineral Resources in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, prior to his resignation on 7 April 2005...
on 20 September 2005, but remained in the Cabinet as a Minister without portfolio
Minister without Portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry...
, until his appointment as Leader of the House.
Kaitani was first elected to 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...
as an independent candidate to represent the Lomaiviti
Lomaiviti (Fijian Communal Constituency, Fiji)
Lomaiviti 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 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, and later joined the Christian Democratic Alliance
Christian Democratic Alliance (Fiji)
The Christian Democratic Alliance, better known locally by its Fijian name, Veitokani ni Lewenivanua Vakarisito , was a Fijian political party that operated in the late 1990s and early 2000s....
(VLV). The VLV disintegrated in the political realignment that followed the coup, but Kaitani joined the newly formed United Fiji Party (SDL), and retained his seat in the 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...
of 2001 as an SDL candidate. He was subsequently appointed to the Cabinet.
Kaitani's treason trial, 2005
On 15 August 2005, he had been acquitted of charges that he had been involved in the coup d'étatFiji coup of 2000
The Fiji coup of 2000 was a complicated affair involving a civilian putsch by hardline Fijian nationalists against the elected government of a non-native Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, on 19 May 2000, the attempt by President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara to assert executive authority on 27 May, and...
which deposed elected government in May 2000. Among other things, he was accused of taking an illegal oath of ministerial office on 20 May 2000, to join the so-called Taukei Cabinet of George Speight
George Speight
George Speight , occasionally known as Ilikimi Naitini, was the principal instigator of the Fiji coup of 2000, in which he kidnapped thirty-six government officials and held them from May 19, 2000 to July 13, 2000...
, the chief instigator of the coup.
Kaitani had appeared in court on 23 May along with four other defendants. One pleaded guilty to the charges against him and apologised. The others, including Kaitani, all pleaded not guilty. The trial of all except Tanaburenisau began on 17 June. A number of witnesses were summoned, among them the Parliamentary Secretary, Mary Chapman
Mary Chapman
Mary Chapman has been the Chief Executive of the Chartered Management Institute in the UK since 1998.-References:*...
, and Senator
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...
Mitieli Bulanauca
Mitieli Bulanauca
Mitieli Bulanauca is a Fijian politician and former Cabinet Minister.He was educated at Lelean Memorial School in Nausori, Fiji. He graduated from the University of New England, Australia in 1996...
, who was given immunity to testify.
On 1 August, Kaitani's defence lawyers Iqbal Khan and Rabo Matebalavu called for the charges against Kaitani and his fellow-accused to be dismissed on the grounds that twelve state witnesses who testified, including New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
Police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
handwriting expert David Boot, had failed to conclusively link the accused to their alleged crime. Kaitani said that of the ten thousand people who had gathered in the parliamentary complex when the crisis was at its height, not one had seen him taking an oath or signing any documents. He questioned why the three alleged witnesses, including former Vice-President Seniloli, had not been called to give evidence against him. Judge Anthony Gates
Anthony Gates
Anthony Harold Cumberland Thomas Gates is Acting Chief Justice of Fiji.-Early life:Gates was born in the United Kingdom and is a graduate of Cambridge University, and holds Australian citizenship. He had served as a volunteer teacher as a VSO in Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka...
dismissed the application on 9 August, however, ordering the trial to continue.
Also on 9 August, Kaitani filed an unsworn statement in court that he had deliberately remained in the parliamentary complex during the upheaval, not to support the rebels, but to use his skills as a qualified conflict management trainer to calm the situation. "In my professional capacity, I simply could not leave the parliamentary complex and watch it being taken over," he said. "I decided to take the bull by the horn and remain there." He continued to deny having taken an oath or signing an oath. "I did not take an oath of allegiance or sign any documents," he declared, adding that the first he knew of his alleged unconstitutional ministerial appointment was from a newspaper.
In her summing up, however, state prosecutor Ashishna Prasad said that in the course of several police interviews, neither Kaitani nor his fellow accused had denied their involvement in the swearing-in ceremony on 20 May 2000. All of them, she said, had been seen to have spent two minutes in a room with Seniloli, who had been appointed President by Speight, after which they gave one another congratulatory handshakes when they left. She rejected Kaitani's defence that he "shook hands with everyone he meets to express the love and affection of God", saying it was a clear indication that he had sworn a ministerial oath. She quoted Kaitani as having told the police, "Yes, it looks like mine" when shown the oath form. She further alleged that Kaitani had insisted on having his name correctly typed on the form where that of Ratu Kinijoji Maivalili
Kinijoji Maivalili
Ratu Kinijoji R. Maivalili is a Fijian Chief and political leader. Since 2001 he has represented the Province of Cakaudrove in the Senate as one of fourteen nominees of the Great Council of Chiefs...
, who had declined appointment to the Primary Industries portfolio, had been crossed out.
On 12 August 2005, five court assessors unanimously reached a "not guilty" verdict concerning Kaitani and his co-accused. The decision was not binding on Judge Anthony Gates
Anthony Gates
Anthony Harold Cumberland Thomas Gates is Acting Chief Justice of Fiji.-Early life:Gates was born in the United Kingdom and is a graduate of Cambridge University, and holds Australian citizenship. He had served as a volunteer teacher as a VSO in Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka...
, but he ratified their verdict on 15 August, saying that those who had testified had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Kaitani and his associates were guilty of the charges specified.
New Cabinet posting
On 20 September 2005, Prime Minister Laisenia QaraseLaisenia 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...
announced that Kaitani had been relieved of his Transport and Civil Aviation portfolio to make way for Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, the Tui Cakau
Tui Cakau
The Tui Cakau is the Paramount Chief of Cakaudrove Province in Fiji. In Modern Fiji this chiefly title is regarded as the most senior in the Tovata Confederacy, and the third most senior in the country.-Recent history :...
(Paramount Chief of the Tovata Confederacy
Tovata Confederacy
Tovata is one of three confederacies comprising the Fijian House of Chiefs, to which all of Fiji's chiefs belong.-Details of Tovata:It is located in the north east of the country, covering the provinces of Bua, Macuata and Cakaudrove on the northern island Vanua Levu, as well as the Lau Islands.The...
) and leader 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...
, following Lalabalavu's release from a prison sentence that he had served extramurally on coup-related charges. Kaitani said it was an honour for the people of Lomaiviti
Lomaiviti
The Lomaiviti archipelago of Fiji consists of seven main islands and a number of smaller ones. They cover a total area of 411 square kilometers, and had a population of 16,461 at the most recent census in 2007...
to make way for a paramount chief. He would remain in the Cabinet as a Minister without portfolio in the Prime Minister's office, Qarase said.
On 26 September, Opposition Leader
Leader of the Opposition (Fiji)
The post of Leader of the Opposition is a political office common in countries that are part of the Commonwealth of Nations. It did not originate in Fiji but has a long tradition; in British constitutional theory, the Leader of the Opposition must pose a formal alternative to the government, ready...
Mahendra Chaudhry
Mahendra Chaudhry
Mahendra Pal Chaudhry is a Fijian politician and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party...
stated his intention to approach the Electoral Commission and the office of the Auditor-General to investigate Kaitani's new appointment. He said that Kaitani's job description as a Minister without portfolio, "undertaking various responsibilities in the Office of the PM (Prime Minister) at the direction of the PM ... to include close liaison with all ministers and travelling throughout the country to inform the people of the Government's development activities and to get a feedback from them on community development needs," indicated that Kaitani's appointment was a government ploy to have a person receiving a Ministerial salary to perform party political work for the ruling SDL. He called this an "abuse of office," and said it had become "a hallmark" of the Qarase government. "I have decided to refer this matter to the Electoral Commission and the Office of the Auditor-General for further investigation and necessary action," Chaudhry said.
Other roles
Kaitani is also President of the National Youth Forum and at a convention in ViseiseiViseisei
Viseisei is a village in Fiji's Ba Province. According to tradition, it is the oldest settlement in Fiji, established by Lutunasobasoba when the first Melanesian canoes beached at nearby Vuda Point....
Village in Ba Province on 14 December 2005, he was reelected to another two-year term. Ratu Ilaitia Vakalalabure, Cakaudrove
Cakaudrove
Cakaudrove is one of fourteen provinces of Fiji, and one of three based principally on the northern island of Vanua Levu, occupying the south-eastern third of the island and including the nearby islands of Taveuni, Rabi, Kioa, and numerous other islands in the Vanua Levu Group...
youth president, was elected Vice-President.