Mataiasi Vave Ragigia (died 20 October 2012) was a

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 who served in the now-defunct

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. He held the Suva City Urban Fijian Communal Constituency, which he won for the ruling

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 ...

Party (SDL) in the

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

of September 2001, defeating the incumbent Ratu Viliame Volavola of the

Fijian Association Party The Fijian Association Party (FAP) 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. The ...

(FAP). Ragigia's election came on his second attempt. In the previous election of 1999, he had contested the Suva City Open Constituency for the

Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei The Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT), occasionally known in English as Fijian Political Party, was a party which dominated the politics of Fiji in the 1990s and was the mainstay of coalition governments from 1992 to 1999. Origins The party ...

, but had lost to Ofa Duncan of the United General Party. Ragigia retained his seat with over 73 percent of the vote at the Fiji election of 2006.

Fiji Village ''Fiji Village'' (stylised ''Fijivillage'') is an online news website in Fiji which is fully owned and operated by Communications Fiji Limited. It covers local, political, business, sporting, cultural, and other news items. ''Fiji Village'' is ...

reported on 25 September 2006, however, that his position was in jeopardy as he had been absent from two sittings of the House.

Mary Chapman Mary Chapman was the Chief Executive of the Chartered Management Institute in the UK from 1998 to 2012. Biography Mary Chapman is a Chartered Director who, since 2008, has served as a non-executive board member for public organisations inclu ...

, Parliament's

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

, revealed, however, that Ragigia had written to

Parliamentary Speaker The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerfo ...

Pita Nacuva Pita Kewa Nacuva is a Fijian politician, who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from June to December 2006, when a military coup deposed the government and resulted in the dissolution of Parliament. Previously, he had served in the ...

to explain his absence on mainly medical grounds, and that Nacuva would wait for the report of the next medical examination before making a decision on whether to declare Ragigia's seat vacant. The question was made redundant by the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...

of 5 December 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ragigia, Mataiasi I-Taukei Fijian members of the House of Representatives (Fiji) 2012 deaths Year of birth missing Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua politicians Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei politicians I-Taukei Fijian people Politicians from Suva