Filimoni Vosarogo

Filimoni Wainiqolo Rasokisoki Vosarogo is a Fijian lawyer, politician, and Cabinet Minister. He is a member of the People's Alliance.

Filimoni Vosarogo
Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources
Assumed office
24 December 2022
Prime MinisterSitiveni Rabuka
Member of the Fijian Parliament
for PA List
Assumed office
14 December 2022
Personal details
Political partySocial Democratic Liberal Party (2018–2021)
People's Alliance (2021–present)

Vosarogo worked as a lawyer and civil servant, including as legal manager for the land Transport Authority.[1] In December 2016 he was elected chair of Fiji National Rugby League.[2]

Vosarogo has appeared in a number of high-profile cases against the military regime and the FijiFirst government which succeeded it. In 2011 he represented former Fiji Land Force Commander, Brigadier General Pita Driti, in his trial for sedition and mutiny.[3] In 2019 he represented opposition MP Mosese Bulitavu in his retrial for sedition.[4] In May 2019 he represented Fiji Trades Union Congress secretary Felix Anthony after he was detained by police for attempting to organise a protest march against job cuts.[5] In 2020, he represented SODELPA MPs under investigation by the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption.[6]

Political career

In August 2014 he was founding president of the One Fiji Party.[7][8] He ran as a One Fiji candidate in the 2014 election campaign,[9] and during campaign he opposed the FijiFirst regime's classification of all citizens as "Fijian" and its non-recognition of iTaukei.[10]

During the 2018 Fijian general election he acted as lawyer for the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA).[11] In August 2020 he contested the SODELPA deputy leadership.[12] In December 2020 he was elected deputy leader, defeating Lynda Tabuya by one vote.[13] In February 2021 he opposed the government's deportation of University of the South Pacific vice-chancellor Pal Ahluwalia.[14] In March 2021 he called for Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission director Ahswin Raj to be fired over the FHRDC's failure to oppose the FijiFirst government's policing bill, which restricted human rights.[15]

In November 2021 he resigned from SODELPA to join the People's Alliance.[16][17]

He contested the 2022 Fijian general election as a People's Alliance candidate.[18] During the election campaign he criticised the salaries paid to top public servants, such as land transport Authority CEO Samuel Charles Simpson,[1] claiming that the FijiFirst government was paying a "different brain rate" for non-Fijians.[19] Simpson subsequently quit shortly after the coalition government took office.[20]

He was elected to the Parliament of Fiji with 4408 votes.[21] On 24 December 2022 he was appointed Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources in the coalition government of Sitiveni Rabuka.[22]

References
  1. Meri Radinibaravi (10 December 2022). "2022 General Election: Simpson was paid $500k a year – Vosarogo". Fiji Times. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  2. Maikeli Seru (15 December 2016). "Vosarogo continues". Fiji Times. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  3. "Driti case deferred as defence seeks disclosure from Fiji state". RNZ. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  4. "Mosese Bulitavu, Jagath Karunaratne Are 'Free At Last'". Fiji Sun. 4 April 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  5. "Police search Fiji Trades Union Congress HQ". RNZ. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  6. Fonua Talei (26 August 2020). "SODELPA Lawyer Ready To Represent Opposition MPs For FICAC Questioning". Fiji Sun. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  7. "Proposed One Fiji Party applies". RNZ. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  8. "Numbers, not name, reason for One Fiji party rejection". RNZ. 1 August 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  9. Shanal Sivan (15 August 2014). "One Fiji Party names 18 candidates". FBC News. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  10. "Party says consultation needed over 'Fijian'". RNZ. 21 August 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  11. "Fiji opposition given 24 hours to serve election petition". RNZ. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  12. "Five-way contest for Fiji's SODELPA leadership". RNZ. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  13. "Fiji's Social Democratic Liberal Party leader Viliame Gavoka's focus ahead of 2022 election". RNZ. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  14. Luke Nacei (4 February 2021). "USP is not Fiji's university, says Vosarogo". Fiji Times. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  15. Luke Rawalai (20 March 2021). "Vosarogo: FHRADC director should be sacked". Fiji Times. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  16. "Sodelpa's deputy leader quits in Fiji". RNZ. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  17. Arieta Vakasukawaqa (29 November 2021). "Filimoni Vosarogo resigns from SODELPA". Fiji Times. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  18. Litia Cava (3 May 2022). "12 proposed candidates for Rabuka's party". FBC News. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  19. Arieta Vakasukawaqa (2 December 2022). "'Different brain rate' for expatriates, says Vosarogo". Fiji Times. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  20. Talebula Kate (30 December 2022). "LTA CEO resigns". Fiji Times. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  21. "Filimoni Wainiqolo Rasokisoki Vosarogo (248)". Fijian Elections Office. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  22. Apenisa Waqairadovu (24 December 2022). "Siromi Turaga sworn in as new AG". FBC News. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
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