Mereia Taufa Vakatale, O.F. (born 1938) is a Fijian former politician and educator. She served in the

Cabinet of Fiji The Cabinet of Fiji is a Government body of Ministers appointed by the Prime Minister of Fiji and responsible to the Parliament of Fiji. The Cabinet's constitutional basis is sections 90 to 96 of the 2013 Constitution of Fiji. Cabinet consists ...

under 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 ...

(SVT) during 1993–1995 and 1997–1999. In 1997, she became Fiji's first female Deputy Prime Minister.

Biography

Taufa Vakatale was born in 1938 on

Batiki Batiki is an island of Fiji belonging to the Lomaiviti Archipelago. The island is of volcanic origin, with a land area of about 12 square kilometers. Its latitude is 17° 47' S; its longitude is 179° 9' W. Its population ...

in the

Lomaiviti Islands The Lomaiviti (pronounced ) archipelago of Fiji consists of seven main islands and a number of smaller ones. They cover a total area of , and had a population of 15,657 at the most recent census in 2017. The largest town, with a population of 1 ...

. Her parents were Alanieta Naucukidi and Mosese Vakatale, a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister. She attended primary school on

Gau Island Gau (pronounced ) is an island belonging to Fiji's Lomaiviti archipelago. Located at 18.00° S and 179.30 °E, it covers an area of , with a total shoreline that measures long, making it the fifth largest island in the Fijian archipelago. Its ...

before enrolling in the first cohort of students at Adi Cakobau School, a government boarding school for girls on Fiji's main island,

Viti Levu Viti Levu (pronounced ) is the largest island in the Republic of Fiji. It is the site of the nation's capital, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population. Geology Fiji lies in a tectonically complex area between the Australian P ...

, in 1948. She received the New Zealand

School Certificate The School Certificate was a qualification issued by the Board of Studies, New South Wales, typically at the end of Year 10. The successful completion of the School Certificate was a requirement for completion of the Higher School Certificate. T ...

in 1954. Three years later, she became the first indigenous Fijian girl to pass the New Zealand University Entrance examination and upon graduating from the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

in 1963, the first Fijian woman to receive a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree. Vakatale returned to her boarding school, Adi Cakobau, as a teacher. She was the school principal from 1973 from 1979, making her the first indigenous Fijian woman to serve as a secondary school principal. She left the school to become a diplomat in 1980 and became the first indigenous Fijian woman appointed as a deputy high commissioner. She held various positions in the civil service, particularly in the field of education, and became Chief Education Officer in 1983. Vakatale left the civil service in 1990. She ran for election in 1992 under the

(SVT) party ticket; she was elected and won a bid for re-election in 1994. Her win in 1992 made her the first Fijian woman elected as a cabinet minister. She was Minister of Education, Science and Technology from 1993 to 1995, but she was dismissed from her cabinet post in 1995 because, in contrast to the SVT's policies, she opposed French nuclear weapons testing in

Moruroa Moruroa (Mururoa, Mururura), also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is located about southeast of Tahiti. Administratively Moruroa Atoll i ...

Atoll in

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...

. In 1997, she was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Technology, and in 1999 she became the first female president of the SVT. Vakatale resigned from the SVT in 2000 in opposition to the coup d'état by i-Taukei nationalists which had removed then-Prime Minister

Mahendra Chaudhry Mahendra Pal Chaudhry ( hif, महेन्द्र पाल चौधरी; born 9 February 1942) is a Fijian politician and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party. Following a historic election in which he defeated the long-time former lead ...

from power. After retiring from politics, Vakatale worked in the private education sector. She was made an Officer of the

Order of Fiji The Order of Fiji is the highest Order (honour), honour of the Fijian honours system. Established 1 March 1995, the order is presented for achievement and merit to Fiji and mankind as a whole. The order is divided into a general division and mili ...

in 1996 and was awarded an honorary

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

degree by the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

in 2009. In 2012, she was selected as a member of the

Constitutional Commission Many entities have been called a Constitutional Commission with the general purpose of reviewing a constitution, or planning to create one. Afghanistan *Afghan Constitution Commission ** Timeline of the War in Afghanistan (August 2003) * Reigns ...

headed by

Yash Ghai Yash Pal Ghai CBE (born 20 October 1938) is a Kenyan academic in constitutional law. As of 2007 he is the head of the Constitution Advisory Support Unit of the United Nations Development Programme in Nepal. Until 2008, he was a United Nations S ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vakatale, Taufa 1938 births Living people I-Taukei Fijian members of the House of Representatives (Fiji) Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei politicians Politicians from Lomaiviti Province 20th-century Fijian women politicians Fijian educators Officers of the Order of Fiji University of Auckland alumni 20th-century Fijian educators 21st-century Fijian educators 20th-century Fijian politicians 21st-century Fijian politicians 21st-century Fijian women politicians