Asesela Ravuvu

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Asesela Ravuvu (10 May 1931 — 11 March 2008)^[1] was a Fijian academic and political leader. The Director of Pacific Studies at the University of the South Pacific, Professor Ravuvu was appointed to the Fijian Senate by the Great Council of Chiefs in 2001, to one of the 14 Senate seats (out of 32 in total) allocated to the Great Council. As of September 2005, he held the position of Leader of the House in the Senate, but retired from this body in 2006.^[2]

He was from the Province of Naitasiri and was born and brought up in the highlands of Viti Levu in the village of Nakorosule. He deemed himself a "Kai-Colo" meaning from the highlands and remained a true Fijian at heart.

Attitudes towards Fiji's chiefly system

During the

On 29 August 2005, Ravuvu said that discussions on major issues like land reform and politics were being hampered by the way parliament had become too politicized. He said it would be more constructive to hold a summit of leaders, with input from the Great Council of Chiefs and from the private sector, to discuss national issues in a more informal setting.

Ravuvu also called for the

Ravuvu was one of the first graduates of the University of The South Pacific in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education. He received his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in anthropology from the University of Auckland, with a thesis on Fijian ceremonies.^[3]

Ravuvu was appointed Professor of Pacific Studies at the USP in the wake of the Fiji coups of 1987. Prior to his professorship, he was also holding the appointment of the Director of Pacific Studies at the University of the South Pacific. During this time he had published some of his writings, The Fijian Way of Life 1976, The Fijian Ethos 1987, Development or Dependence 1988, The Facade of Democracy 1991. His last book, Façade of Democracy, published in 1991, argued for "a degree of political paramountcy" in order to allow all races to live together peacefully. He also wrote that "Fijians generally perceive Indians as mean and stingy, crafty and demanding to the extent of being considered greedy, inconsiderate and grasping, uncooperative, egotistic, and calculating. Indians on the other hand, view Fijians as "jungalis" or bushwhackers, still behind the times and backward, naive and foolish, and generally poor. They are seen as lazy, proud and extravagant, pound-foolish and undependable. These perceptions of each other are nearly always subdued and latent yet only need some slight provocations to bring them to the fore, which at times culminates in open physical confrontations."

In the 1999 parliamentary election, Ravuvu was an unsuccessful candidate for the Christian Democratic Alliance.

Following the 2000 coup, the interim government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase named Ravuvu to head a Commission to rewrite the 1997 Constitution, which Fijian ethno-nationalists criticized as giving too many concessions to the Indo-Fijian community. On 15 November 2000, however, the High Court reinstated the suspended Constitution, a decision upheld by the Court of Appeal on 1 March 2001. Between the High Court decision and the appeal, the Commission continued to function. Ravuvu defended this by saying on 20 November that politics must come before law and legalities, a comment that sparked considerable public outrage.'

Ravuvu was first married to Paulini Kinisimere, who hailed from Bua) and with whom he had six daughters and one son - Vuki, Amelia, Lusi, Josese, Merewalesi, Makelesi and Evisake. He had no children with his second wife, Makitalena Waqa, who hailed from Naisogovau, Dravo, Tailevu.

Awards

In July 1992, Ravuvu was the inaugural recipient of the Nayacakalou Medal, conferred by the Polynesian Society of the University of Auckland.^[4]

References