Samisoni Tikoinasau

Who is Samisoni Tikoinasau?

Samisoni Tikoinasau Speight is a Fijian politician, who held Cabinet office as Minister of State for Public Utilities and Reforms, to which he was appointed after parliametary election of May 2006. Previously, he was Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources from 2005 to 2006. Like many ethnic Fijians, he rarely uses his surname.

Tikoinasau is the son of former Cabinet Minister Sam Speight and the older brother of George Speight, who led a rebellion which toppled the Indo-Fijian-led Chaudhry government in May 2000. He was elected to the House of Representatives as a candidate of the nationalistic Conservative Alliance in a byelection on 21–23 March 2002, to represent the Tailevu North Fijian Communal constituency in the place of his brother, who had been expelled from Parliament the previous December for nonattendance owing to his imprisonment on treason charges.

Tikoinasau was appointed to the Cabinet on 8 April 2005, to replace Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, who resigned following his conviction and imprisonment for his role in the 2000 coup. He also took over Lalabalavu's role as CAMV leader in an interim capacity, pending Lalabalavu's release.