Sani Elia Lagigietama Lakatani (born 1936) is a former Premier of

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

. He was a member of the

Niue People's Party The Niue People's Party (also known as the Niue People's Action Party) was a political party in Niue. Founded in 1987 by Niueans living in New Zealand, it was disbanded in 2003. It was, during that time, the country's only political party. The par ...

Early life

Lakatani served in the New Zealand Army as a corporal. He was deployed to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

as part of the Whiskey2 deployment.

Political career

Early career

He was first elected to the

Niue Assembly The Niue Assembly ( niu, Niue Fono Ekepule) is the legislature of Niue. It consists of 20 members; 14 representatives of the villages and 6 elected on a common roll. Members are directly elected by universal suffrage, and serve a three-year t ...

in the 1990 election as a candidate for

Young Vivian Mititaiagimene Young Vivian is a Niuean politician and diplomat, who served as Premier of Niue twice, the first time from December 1992 to March 1993 following the death of Sir Robert Rex, and the second from 2002 to 2008. He also served as a ...

's Niue People's Action Party (NPAP). On election night the NPAP believed it had a majority, but a leadership dispute between Vivian and Lakatani saw a group of MP's led by the latter switch sides to support Premier

Robert Rex Sir Robert Richmond Rex (25 January 190912 December 1992) was the first Premier of the Pacific island state of Niue. Early life and family Rex was born to parents Leslie Lucas Richmond Rex, a European trader on Niue, and Fisimonomono Tufaina ...

, who was elected on a 12–8 vote. Lakatani was appointed to Rex's Cabinet as Minister of Finance, but was sacked just five months later after circulating a petition calling for a change of leadership. He was re-elected in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

and reappointed Finance Minister by

Frank Lui Frank Fakaotimanava Lui (19 November 1935 – 9 July 2021) was a Niuean politician, who served as the premier of the Pacific Island state of Niue from 1993 to 1999. Early life Lui was raised by his grandparents on Niue after his parents and ...

. He resigned in March 1994, but was reinstated by Lui in the leadup to a confidence vote. He subsequently lost his finance portfolio in a cabinet reshuffle in October 1994 and resigned from Cabinet on 8 November. Lakatani joined the opposition, which organised itself into the

and effectively deadlocked the assembly. With other members of the opposition, Lakatani boycotted meetings of the Public Expenditure Committee, and as a result his seat was declared vacant in August 1995. He was reinstated after a successful challenge before the High Court and the new

Niue Court of Appeal Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesians, Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle b ...

, but in the interim was re-elected, coming sixth on the common roll in the 1996 election. In October 1995 Lakatani was charged with 22 counts of bribery and two of official corruption. Most of the charges were dismissed after the Niue Court of Appeal found that the law against corruption did not apply to Members of the Assembly, and the remaining charges were later dropped.

Premiership

Lakatani was re-elected at the

1999 Niuean general election General elections were held in Niue on 19 March 1999 to determine the composition of the twenty member national Assembly. Fourteen incumbents retained their seats, with Premier Frank Lui a notable exception. Following the election, the Niue Peop ...

, placing third on the common roll with 474 votes. He was subsequently elected leader of the

, and was elected Premier, defeating

O'Love Jacobsen Tauveve O’Love Jacobsen is a Niuean politician and diplomat. She served as Niue's High Commissioner to New Zealand from 2011 to 2017. Her predecessor was Sisilia Talagi, Niue's first female diplomat and High Commissioner. She had previously ...

by 14 votes to 6. As Premier, he cut the pay of MPs, unsuccessfully attempted to obtain a loan from the

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field offic ...

to counteract declining assistance from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and attempted to establish an airline. In July 1999 he was hospitalised in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

and underwent a double bypass heart operation. In his absence, the growing unpopularity of his government saw it lose its majority. A no-confidence vote in December resulted in a 10–10 tie, a judicial challenge, and an opposition walkout. In 2000, he narrowly avoided bankruptcy over a personal guarantee given for the debt of a Niue business, and this resulted in a further confidence vote which was again tied, 9-9. Lakatani faced a further confidence vote in November 2000. While Prime Minister he served as Chancellor of the

University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the go ...

Later career

He was re-elected in

2002 Niuean general election General elections were held in Niue on 21 March 2002 to determine the composition of the twenty member Assembly. All twenty outgoing members were re-elected, of which eight (all of them village representatives) were running unopposed. Voter tu ...

, but his dictatorial leadership style saw him lose the leadership of the People's Party to

, who subsequently became Premier, with Lakatani as his Deputy. In August 2002 he was sacked from Cabinet after voting against the budget. In 2003 he took an extended leave from the Assembly to look after his wife in Auckland. He resigned from the Assembly in June 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lakatani, Sani 1936 births Living people Premiers of Niue Members of the Niue Assembly Niue People's Party politicians Finance Ministers of Niue New Zealand Army personnel