Tomasi Vakatora

Who was Tomasi Vakatora?

Tomasi Vakatora was a Fijian statesman who held Cabinet office and served as Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vakatora entered the House of Representatives as a member of the ruling Alliance Party in 1977 and served in a variety of ministerial positions in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1982, and served till the house was dissolved in 1987.

In 1995, the Fijian government chose Vakatora as its representative on the Constitutional Review Commission, set up to rewrite the Constitution that had been promulgated in 1990 which many Indo-Fijians alleged discriminated against them.

In 2005 and early 2006, Vakatora spearheaded moves to forge an electoral alliance among indigenous Fijian-led political parties ahead of parliamentary elections held on 6-13 May 2006. On 30 July 2005, Vakatora announced that five such parties, including the ruling Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua, had agreed to such a coalition. The parties would exchange preferences and, if elected, form a coalition government.