Jiko Fatafehi Luveni ( – 22 December 2018) was a Fijian politician and Speaker of the

Parliament of Fiji The Parliament of the Republic of Fiji is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Fiji. It consists of 55 members elected every 4 years using open list proportional representation in one multi-member nationwide constituency. History ...

. She was a member of the

FijiFirst FijiFirst ( fj, iMatai ni Viti) is a liberal political party in Fiji. The party was formed in March 2014 by then Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama. Formation The party was launched on 31 March 2014 with Bainimarama beginning a nationwide tour o ...

party before resigning her party membership in order to take up the position of Speaker. This was because the Fijian Speaker is not a Member of Parliament and cannot be a member of a political party pursuant to section 77(1)(a) and section 77(7)(b)(ii) of the Fijian Constitution.

Early life

The daughter of a former shopkeeper turned shipping magnate, Luveni came from the village of Nukuni on the island of

Ono-i-Lau Ono-i-Lau is a group of islands within a barrier reef system in the Fijian archipelago of Lau Islands (''ono'' means "six" in the Fijian language). There are four central volcanic islands: Onolevu, Doi (or Ndoi) Lovoni and Ndavura, the uppermos ...

, in the

Lau Lau or LAU may refer to: People * Lau (surname) * Liu (劉/刘), a common Chinese family name transliterated Lau in Cantonese and Hokkien * Lau clan, one of the Saraswat Brahmin clans of Punjab * LAU (musician): Laura Fares Places * Lebane ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...

. She was educated at Lautoka Fijian School and then at Nabua Secondary School in Suva, before enrolling in Adi Cakobau School in Sawani. She graduated in dentistry from the

Fiji School of Medicine The Fiji School of Medicine is a tertiary institution based in Suva, Fiji. Originally established in 1885 as the ''Suva Medical School''. FSM became the College of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences as part of Fiji National University in 2010. ...

in 1967, the first Fijian woman to do so. After graduation, she worked for twenty years for the Ministry of Health, before working for the

United Nations Population Fund The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN agency aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies a ...

as project manager for reproductive health from 1987 to 2002. She resigned three years ahead of the expiry of her term to take up a post as

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

project officer for the Ministry of Health, working as project manager for Fiji Network for People Living with HIV, a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

. From 2007 to 2008 Luveni served on the board of the interim

Fiji Sports Council The Fiji Sports Council is an organisation that is the custodian of all Fiji Government owned Sporting Facilities around the country. Fiji Sports Council is tasked to manage, maintain and upkeep all facilities under its area of responsibilities. ...

Political career

In January 2008 Luveni was appointed Minister of Health and then as Minister of Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation in the interim government headed by Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama. She was also co-chair of a government task team established to make recommendations regarding "social cultural identity and nation building" for the proposed

People's Charter for Change, Peace and Progress The People's Charter for Change, Peace and Progress (initially, People's Charter for Change and Progress) was a proposed legal document which would have complemented the 1997 Constitution of Fiji. It would have established compulsory guidelines f ...

. In 2013 Luveni indicated that she would stand as part of Bainimarama's proposed political party. She was elected Chairperson of the Lau Provincial Council in April 2014, succeeding Filipe Bole, but after being announced as a

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

candidate for the FijiFirst party in July 2014, she resigned that post after only three months in office. She was succeeded by Ilisoni Taoba. In the 2014 election she received 2,296 votes and was elected to parliament as the 14th highest-polling Fiji First candidate. She resigned her seat immediately following the election in order to become Speaker, the first Fijian woman to hold the position. Her place as an MP was taken by Laisenia Tuitubou. She was formally elected Speaker on October 6, 2014.

Death

On 22 December 2018, Luveni died at the age of 72.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luveni, Jiko 1946 births 2018 deaths Women dentists Fijian dentists Fiji School of Medicine alumni FijiFirst politicians Health ministers of Fiji Women's ministers of Fiji I-Taukei Fijian members of the Parliament of Fiji I-Taukei Fijian people People educated at Adi Cakobau School Speakers of the Parliament of Fiji Politicians from Ono-i-Lau 21st-century Fijian women politicians 21st-century Fijian politicians Women government ministers of Fiji 20th-century dentists Women legislative speakers