Ratu Ovini Bokini Ratu (3 November 1944 – 15 January 2009) was a Fijian chief and political leader. Bokini, who held the chiefly title of Tui Tavua, succeeded Ratu Epeli Ganilau as Chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs on 21 July 2004, and was re-elected to this post for a full three-year term on 27 July 2005. A formal gathering of mostly traditional chiefs chosen by the country's 14 provincial councils, along with some appointees of the national government and the Council of Rotuma, the Great Council of Chiefs functioned as an electoral college to select Fiji's President, along with 14 of the 32 members of the Senate. Informally, the Council advised the Fijian government on every aspect of political life. Although not mandated by the Constitution, the chairman's role was therefore a very influential one. During late April 2007, all members of G.C.C were suspended by the Interim Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama. The suspension included the chairman, Ovini Bokini and all other members of G.C.C after the President's nomination for the Vice-President position was rejected by some G.C.C members. Unusual appointment Bokini was chosen to fill this position after his predecessor, Ratu Epeli Ganilau, had become embroiled in political controversy, calling for the resignation of the then-Vice-President, Jope Seniloli (who has since been convicted of treason for his role in the coup d'état that deposed the elected government in 2000), and proposing the revival of the country's former ruling political party, the Alliance Party, as a multi-racial party, hinting that he would play a role in it. Many politicians feared that Ganilau was compromising the neutrality of the Council, and it is thought that government pressure played a role in the decision of the Cakaudrove Provincial Council to replace him as their representative with someone less controversial. Without membership of the Council, Ganilau was ineligible to serve as its chairman. The sentencing of Vice-President Seniloli to four years' imprisonment for treason on 6 August 2004 created fears of a possible power vacuum should anything happen to the ailing 83-year-old President, Josefa Iloilo. Constitutional experts, however, said that as Chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs, Bokini could choose to assume the role of Vice-President in an interim capacity. Seniloli resigned on 29 November, paving the way for President Iloilo to nominate, and the Great Council to approve, Joni Madraiwiwi as the new Vice-President on 15 December. Position on