Mitieli Bulanauca (born 1951 or 1952) is a Fijian politician and former Cabinet Minister. He is currently a member of the People's Alliance. He was educated at

Lelean Memorial School Lelean Memorial School is one of the largest co-ed schools in Fiji. It was established in 1943 and is run by the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma. It is co-located at the Davuilevu Methodist Compound with thDavuilevu Theological Collegeand the ...

Nausori Nausori () is a town in Fiji. It had a population of 57,866 at the 2017 census. This makes it the fourth most populous municipality in the country. Situated 19 kilometers outside of Suva, it forms one pole of the burgeoning Suva-Nausori corrid ...

, Fiji. He graduated from the

University of New England, Australia The University of New England (UNE) is a public university in Australia with approximately 22,500 higher education students. Its original and main campus is located in the city of Armidale in northern central New South Wales. UNE was the firs ...

(UNE) in 1996. Before joining politics, Bulanauca worked for the Native Lands Trust Board as a senior lands manager. He won the Bua Fijian Communal Constituency for the Christian Democratic Alliance (VLV) 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 1999. In the political upheaval that followed the Fiji coup of 2000, Bulanauca was appointed to the interim Cabinet formed by

Laisenia Qarase Laisenia Qarase (pronounced ; 4 February 1941 – 21 April 2020) was a Fijian politician. He served as the sixth Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. After the military quashed the coup that led to the removal of Mahendra Chaudhry, Qarase ...

as Minister for Lands and

Mineral Resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. O ...

. In the major political realignment that followed the 2000 coup, the VLV disintegrated. Bulanauca joined the newly formed

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 conse ...

Party (SDL), but lost his seat to the Conservative Alliance candidate, Josateki Vula. He was subsequently appointed to the Senate, however, as one of 9 nominees of the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

. In August 2002 while a senator he called for the abolition of Muslim public holidays, leading to calls for his removal from the Senate. In December 2002 he called for permanent i-Taukei government and for the constitution to be changed to make Fiji a christian nation. In July 2003 he called for Fiji to produce guns and Bibles for export. In July 2004 during Vice-President

Jope Seniloli ''Ratu'' Jope Naucabalavu Seniloli (14 June 1939 – 28 June 2015) was a Fijian chief who held the title of Turaga Taukei Naua and who served as Fiji's vice-president from 25 March 2001 to 29 November 2004, when he was forced to resign following ...

's trial for treason during the 2000 Fijian coup d'état he was named as one of the members of coup leader

George Speight George Speight (born 1957) is a Fijian businessman and politician who was the leader of the 2000 Fijian coup d'état, in which he and rebel soldiers from Fiji's Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit seized the Fijian Parliament and held Prime Minister ...

's cabinet. He subsequently used his place in the Senate to call for the overthrow of the 1997 constitution, and to attack Fiji's police commissioner. In June 2005 he was granted immunity for coup-related offences in exchange for giving evidence against transport Minister

Simione Kaitani Simione Kaitani is a former Fijian politician. He was previously a Cabinet Minister from 2001 to 2006, serving initially as Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation, and later as Information Minister. He resigned these portfolios in favour of R ...

. He retired from the Senate in 2006 but at the general election held on 6–13 May that year, he was elected to represent his old constituency in the

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 ...

as the candidate of the SDL. He lost his seat when the Fijian parliament was overthrown by 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, bu ...

. Bulanauca stood as a candidate for 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 ...

at the

2018 elections The following elections are scheduled to occur in 2018. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. Africa *2018 Djiboutian parliamentary election 23 February 2018 * 2018 Sierra Leonean general ele ...

, winning 3031 votes and a seat in parliament. In July 2020 he was investigated by the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption for his use of parliamentary allowances. In July 2020 he spread

COVID-19 misinformation False information, including intentional disinformation and conspiracy theories, about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messagin ...

, claiming that the virus was created in China by Satanic Communists. In November 2022, once Parliament had been dissolved for the election, Bulanauca resigned from SODELPA and joined the People's Alliance. He contested the 2022 election under the PA banner, but placed last on the party list with only 270 votes, and failed to gain a seat in Parliament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulanauca, Mitieli Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People educated at Lelean Memorial School Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua politicians I-Taukei Fijian members of the House of Representatives (Fiji) I-Taukei Fijian members of the Senate (Fiji) Christian Democratic Alliance (Fiji) politicians Government ministers of Fiji Politicians from Bua Province Members of the Parliament of Fiji Social Democratic Liberal Party politicians People's Alliance (Fiji) politicians