Losena Tubanavau Salabula is a former

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

an politician and

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

. Salabula trained as a teacher, and later worked for the Pacific Concerns Research Centre. She was first elected to the

House of Representatives of Fiji The House of Representatives was the lower chamber of Fiji's Parliament from 1970 to 2006. It was the more powerful of the two chambers; it alone had the power to initiate legislation (the Senate, by contrast, could amend or veto most legislati ...

in the

Laucala Laucala (pronounced ) is one of a triplet of small islands that lie to the east of Thurston Point on the island of Taveuni in Fiji. The privately owned islands are the site of the Laucala Resort. The total land area of the main island is . It is ...

Open Constituency as a

Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua The United Fiji Party ( fj, Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua, SDL) was a political party in Fiji. It was founded in 2001 by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase as a power base; it absorbed most of the Christian Democratic Alliance and other conser ...

candidate in the

2001 Fijian general election General elections were held in Fiji in August and September 2001. The Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua party won 18 of the 23 seats reserved for ethnic Fijians and one of three " general electorates" set aside for Fiji's European, Chinese, and ot ...

. She was subsequently appointed to the Cabinet as Assistant Minister for Women, Assistant Minister for Social Welfare and Poverty Alleviation, and Assistant Minister in the Prime Minister's Office. In April 2002 she drew public condemnation by saying that incest and child abuse in Fiji was caused by women working overseas. In April 2002 she called the Fiji Labour Party an anti-Fijian group intent on stealing land from indigenous Fijians. In October 2002 she was criticised by the

Auditor-General A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level executi ...

for blatantly disregarding procedures over use of funds. At the 2006 election, Salabula retained her seat by a mere 17 votes out of more than 15,000 votes cast. She was subsequently appointed to Cabinet as Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office. She lost her seat, and her ministerial position, following the

2006 Fijian coup d'état The Fijian coup d'état of December 2006 was a coup d'état carried out by Commodore Frank Bainimarama, Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, against the government of President Josefa Iloilo. Iloilo was removed as president, but ...

. In May 2007 she was detained by the Fijian military and threatened over her public statements. In the leadup to the

2014 Fijian general election General elections were held in Fiji on 17 September 2014," ...

she joined the

Social Democratic Liberal Party The Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) is a Fijian political party. The party was formed in January 2013 after the dissolution of the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua. The party currently has no party leader. History Party foundation ...

(SODELPA) and became leader of its women's committee. She was named as a provisional SODELPA candidate, but ultimately did not contest the 2014 election. She later served on the party's management board. She was selected as a candidate for the

2022 Fijian general election General elections were held in Fiji on 14 December 2022 to elect the 55 members of Parliament. The elections took place following the passage of controversial electoral amendments. In addition to a struggling economy, significant campaign iss ...

, but won only 60 votes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salabula, Losena Year of birth missing (living people) Living people I-Taukei Fijian members of the House of Representatives (Fiji) Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua politicians Government ministers of Fiji Politicians from Cakaudrove Province