|
Viliame Naupoto
Rear Admiral Viliame Naupoto OF (MIL) is a Fijian politician and former Fijian soldier. He is the current Minister for Immigration. He was a former Cabinet Minister under the FijiFirst government. After serving as Commander of the Republic of Fiji Navy, he was appointed as a Minister in the military regime of dictator Frank Bainimarama. He was later appointed commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, before being elected to the Parliament of Fiji in December 2022. He joined the Republic of Fiji Military Forces in 1982 and served in the Fiji Navy.[1] In 1994 he was the Captain of the newly commissioned RFNS Kula.[2] During his time in the military, he served as the Commander of Fiji Navy, Director Finance and Logistics and Commander.[1] While serving as Navy Commander, Naupoto was arrested drink-driving. His case file subsequently went missing from the Nabua police station,[3] but was eventually found, and he was convicted and fined US$100.[4] Following the 2006 Fijian coup d'état Naupoto was appointed Director of Immigration by the military, and was responsible for placing travel bans on the regime's opponents.[5] He also deported legal representatives of regime opponents.[6] After being sent to India for training,[7] he was appointed Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office,[8] and then chair of the Fiji Trade and Investment Board[9][10] and Permanent Secretary of the Department of Fisheries and Forests.[11] In February 2012 he was appointed Minister of Youth and Sports in the military cabinet.[12] Naputo was selected as a FijiFirst candidate for the 2014 Fijian general election,[13] but not elected. Following the election he returned to the military, serving as chief of staff.[14][15] Following the sudden resignation of RFMF Commander Mosese Tikoitoga in August 2015 he was appointed acting commander.[16] The appointment was made permanent in March 2016.[17][18] In November 2015 he was promoted to Rear Admiral.[19] When Jioji Konrote was elected President of Fiji in October 2015, Naupoto became eligible for a seat in Parliament as his replacement, but turned it down to stay in the military.[20] He retired from the RFMF in March 2021,[21] and was replaced as RFMF Commander by Jone Kalouniwai in September 2021.[22][23] He was selected again as a FijiFirst candidate for the 2022 election,[24][25] and was elected with 830 votes.[26][27] Following the election he was appointed as chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.[28] On November 2014 Naupoto was made an Officer of the Order of Fiji.[29] Following the collapse and deregistration of FijiFirst he remained in parliament as an independent, but said that he would support the government of Sitiveni Rabuka.[30] He was subsequently appointed chief whip of the opposition Group of 9 Bloc.[31] On 10 January 2025, he was sworn as Minister of Immigration under Rabuka's government.[32] References
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
