returned to them when independence was granted in 1970. As a first step, he proposed the abolition of the Senate, the functions of which could be taken over by the Great Council of Chiefs, he said. He opined that restoring the authority of the chiefs would lead to a breaking down of Fiji's race barriers, as the chiefs would then be the leaders not only of the indigenous people, but of all races. His proposal was rejected by Ratu Epeli Ganilau, who was then the Chairman of the Great Council. He was the Minister for Lands and Minister for Mineral Resources in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, but was forced to resign after being convicted of unlawful assembly and jailed for his actions during the coup. He was subsequently released under a compulsory supervision order, having served only 11 days of his eight month sentence. The Fiji Village news service reported on 23 February 2006 that some chiefs wished to nominate Lalabalavu for the office of President or Vice-President at the 2006 presidential election. When Great Council of Chiefs met on 8 March, however, it reelected unopposed Ratu Josefa Iloilo and Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi as President and Vice-President, respectively. Following the parliamentary election held on 6–13 May 2006, he became Minister for Fijian Affairs again, as well as Minister for Lands and Provincial Development. He was deposed in December 2006 by the 2006 Fijian coup d'état. Post-coup career Lalabalavu ran as a candidate for the Social Democratic Liberal Party in the 2014 election, winning 6668 votes, the 6th highest-polling candidate. Following the election he was appointed Shadow Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources. In May 2015 Lalabalavu was referred to the privileges committee for making derogatory comments about Speaker of Parliament Dr Jiko Luveni at a constituency meeting. He was suspended from Parliament for two years. On July 15, 2015, Ratu Naiqama launched a constitutional challenge, heard by Chief Justice Anthony Gates, against Speaker Jiko Luveni and Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum for his suspension. The case was argued in September 2015, but the suspension expired before a decision was made. In June 2015 Lalabalavu was elected as SODELPA president. He was re-elected in June 2017. Lalabalavu had planned to retire from politics, but changed his mind and stood for re-election in the 2018 elections. He was elected, winning 2,165 votes. References Living people Ai Sokula Fijian chiefs I-Taukei