Saula Telawa

Who is Saula Telawa?

Saula Telawa is a Fijian nationalist politician who serves as President of the New Nationalist Party, which advocates indigenous Fijian paramountcy. He has also championed the establishment of Christianity, the faith of most indigenous Fijians, as Fiji's official religion. He claims to be the heir to the legacy of the late nationalist leader Sakeasi Butadroka.

Telawa made media headlines on 12 January 2006, in the midst of a virtual breakdown in relations between the government and Military, which fuelled public fears of a possible coup d'état. The Qarase government's failure to amend the Agriculture, Land, and Tenants Act, which he described as "the heart and soul of the Fijian people," had forfeited its legitimacy with indigenous Fijians, Telawa said, and it should resign. He also called on Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes to stay out of the dispute between the government and the Military, saying that the Australian Hughes, as a non-Fijian, had no right to interfere and in so doing risk the lives of Fijian people.