Sani Lakatani

Sani Lakatani
Premier of Niue
In office 26 March 1999 – 1 May 2002
Governor-General	Michael Hardie Boys Silvia Cartwright
Preceded by	Frank Lui
Succeeded by	Young Vivian
Minister of Finance
In office 27 February 1993 – October 1994
Premier	Frank Lui
Preceded by	Young Vivian
Succeeded by	Terry Coe
In office 7 April 1990 – September 1990
Premier	Robert Rex
Succeeded by	Young Vivian
Member of Parliament for Common roll
In office 7 April 1990 – November 2004
Personal details
Born	1936 (1936) (age 88)
Political party	Niue People's Party

Sani Elia Lagigietama Lakatani (born 1936) is a former Premier of Niue. He was a member of the Niue People's Party.

Early life

Lakatani served in the New Zealand Army as a corporal.^[1] He was deployed to Vietnam as part of the Whiskey2 deployment.^[2]

Political career

Early career

He was first elected to the Niue Assembly in the 1990 election as a candidate for Young Vivian's Niue People's Action Party (NPAP).^[3] On election night the NPAP believed it had a majority, but a leadership dispute between Vivian and Lakatani saw a group of MP's led by the latter switch sides to support Premier Robert Rex, who was elected on a 12–8 vote.^[3] Lakatani was appointed to Rex's Cabinet as Minister of Finance, but was sacked just five months later after circulating a petition calling for a change of leadership.^[4][5]

He was re-elected in 1993 and reappointed Finance Minister by Frank Lui.^[6] He resigned in March 1994, but was reinstated by Lui in the leadup to a confidence vote.^[7] He subsequently lost his finance portfolio in a cabinet reshuffle in October 1994 and resigned from Cabinet on 8 November.^[8] Lakatani joined the opposition, which organised itself into the Niue People's Party and effectively deadlocked the assembly.^[9][10] With other members of the opposition, Lakatani boycotted meetings of the Public Expenditure Committee, and as a result his seat was declared vacant in August 1995. He was reinstated after a successful challenge before the High Court and the new Niue Court of Appeal,^[11] but in the interim was re-elected, coming sixth on the common roll in the 1996 election.^[12]

In October 1995 Lakatani was charged with 22 counts of bribery and two of official corruption. Most of the charges were dismissed after the Niue Court of Appeal found that the law against corruption did not apply to Members of the Assembly,^[13][12] and the remaining charges were later dropped.^[14]

Premiership

Lakatani was re-elected at the 1999 Niuean general election, placing third on the common roll with 474 votes.^[15] He was subsequently elected leader of the Niue People's Party,^[16] and was elected Premier, defeating O'Love Jacobsen by 14 votes to 6.^[15] As Premier, he cut the pay of MPs, unsuccessfully attempted to obtain a loan from the Asian Development Bank to counteract declining assistance from New Zealand,^[15] and attempted to establish an airline. In July 1999 he was hospitalised in Auckland and underwent a double bypass heart operation.^[17] In his absence, the growing unpopularity of his government saw it lose its majority. A no-confidence vote in December resulted in a 10–10 tie, a judicial challenge, and an opposition walkout.^[18][19] In 2000, he narrowly avoided bankruptcy over a personal guarantee given for the debt of a Niue business,^[20] and this resulted in a further confidence vote which was again tied, 9-9.^[18] Lakatani faced a further confidence vote in November 2000. While Prime Minister he served as Chancellor of the University of the South Pacific.^[21]

Later career

He was re-elected in 2002 Niuean general election, but his dictatorial leadership style saw him lose the leadership of the People's Party to Young Vivian,^[22] who subsequently became Premier, with Lakatani as his Deputy.^[23] In August 2002 he was sacked from Cabinet after voting against the budget.^[24][25]

In 2003 he took an extended leave from the Assembly to look after his wife in Auckland. He resigned from the Assembly in June 2004.^[26][27]

References

1. Michael Field (7 April 2016). "Me and Jürgen Mossack: Michael Field on chasing the Panama Papers through the South Pacific in the '00s". The Spinoff. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
2. "Cpl Sani Elia Marty Lakatani". New Zealand Army. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
3. "Rex beats the odds". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 60, no. 5. 1 May 1990. p. 19. Retrieved 2 December 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
4. "Challenge shakes Rex". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 60, no. 10. 1 October 1990. p. 18. Retrieved 2 December 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
5. Stephen Levine (Spring 1992). "Niue in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 1990 to 30 June 1991" (PDF). The Contemporary Pacific. 4 (1): 203–5. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
6. Stephen Levine (Spring 1994). "Niue in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 1992 to 30 June 1993" (PDF). The Contemporary Pacific. 6 (1): 185–189. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
7. Stephen Levine (Spring 1995). "Niue in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 1993 to 30 June 1994" (PDF). The Contemporary Pacific. 7 (1): 154–159. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
8. Stephen Levine (Spring 1996). "Niue in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 1994 to 30 June 1995" (PDF). The Contemporary Pacific. 8 (1): 191–97. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
9. "Little Niue's big problem". Dominion Post. 30 January 1995. p. 8 – via EBSCOHost.
10. Stuart Parker (25 January 1995). "Niue political impasse". Canberra Times. Retrieved 26 June 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
11. Kalauni v Jackson, 1996 1 (Court of Appeal of Niue 23 January 1996).
12. Stephen Levine (Spring 1997). "Niue in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 1995 to 30 June 1996" (PDF). The Contemporary Pacific. 9 (1): 236–42. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
13. Lakatani v The Police, 1995 1 (Court of Appeal of Niue 30 November 1995) ("This may well be unsatisfactory, [but] This gap in the criminal law is one for the Assembly to remedy..").
14. Stephen Levine (Spring 1998). "Niue in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1997" (PDF). The Contemporary Pacific. 10 (1): 216–22. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
15. Stephen Levine (Spring 2000). "Political Review: Niue" (PDF). The Contemporary Pacific. 12 (1): 231–236. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
16. "NIUE PREMIER FRANK LUI LOSES ASSEMBLY SEAT". Pacific Islands Report. 22 March 1999. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
17. "NIUE'S PREMIER LAKATANI UNDERGOING MEDICAL TREATMENT IN NEW ZEALAND". Pacific Islands Report. 26 July 1999. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
18. Robert D. Craig, ed. (2011). "Niue". Historical Dictionary of Polynesia. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 188–189.
19. Stephen Levine (Spring 2001). "Niue in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 1999 to 30 June 2000" (PDF). The Contemporary Pacific. 13 (1): 239–246. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
20. "NIUE PREMIER LAKATANI'S POTENTIAL BANKRUPTCY RESOLVED". Pacific Islands Report. 16 August 2000. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
21. "Chancellors". University of the South Pacific. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
22. "Niue's deputy premier a nominee for post of premier". RNZ. 1 May 2002. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
23. "Sani Lakatani remains near the centre of power in Niue". RNZ. 6 May 2002. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
24. "Election possible in Niue after Minister and Government fails to pass Budget". RNZ. 8 August 2002. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
25. "Niue deputy Premier dumped in Budget crisis". New Zealand Herald. 9 August 2002. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
26. "Niue government and former premier at odds over pay". RNZ. 16 March 2005. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
27. "FORMER NIUE PREMIER RESIGNS FROM PARLIAMENT". Pacific Islands Report. 6 December 2004. Retrieved 26 June 2020.

Government offices
Preceded by Frank Lui	Premier of Niue 1999–2002	Succeeded by Young Vivian