Ratu Epeli Ganilau (born 10 October 1951) is a Fijian soldier and statesman, who currently heads the National Alliance Party of Fiji.

Ganilau previously served as Chairman of the Bose Levu Vakaturaga (Great Council of Chiefs), a position he held from 2001 to 2004. The Bose Levu Vakaturaga is a formal assembly of Fijian hereditary chiefs, along with a number of specially qualified commoners, chosen mainly by Fiji's provincial councils, which also has a constitutional role in functioning as an electoral college to elect the President of the republic, as well as 14 of the 32 Senators. Ganilau was appointed to the Bose Levu Vakaturaga as the representative of the Cakaudrove Provincial Council, and subsequently elected Chairman, in 2001, after the previous Chairman, Sitiveni Rabuka stepped down amid accusations that he may have been involved in the coup d'état that deposed Fiji's elected government in May 2000.

Ganilau is the son of the late Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, the first President of the Republic of Fiji (1987-1993). He is married to, and has two sons and two daughters with, Adi Ateca Mara , the eldest daughter of Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, the founding father of modern Fiji. He became Commander of the Fiji Military Forces in 1987, retiring in 1998 with the rank of Brigadier General. In 1999 he helped to found the Christian Democratic Alliance ; although not personally elected, he was subsequently appointed to the Senate. He chose not to run in the election held to restore democracy in 2001, but in his role as Chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs, he continued to have an influential political role until his sudden replacement on 21 July 2004 by Ratu Ovini Bokini. His departure followed the decision of the Cakaudrove Provincial Council to replace him as its representative on the council. The Great Council of Chiefs is required to elect a chairman from its own members, so the decision of the Cakaudrove Provincial Council not to reappoint him effectively terminated his term as Chairman, which was not due to expire until 2005.

The Cakaudrove Provincial Council gave no reason for its decision to replace Ratu Ganilau, but it is widely thought that the national government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase may have had a hand in the matter. Information Minister Simione Kaitani had criticized Ganilau for his public calls for the resignation of Vice-President Ratu Jope Seniloli, who is currently (2004) on trial for suspected involvement in the 2000 coup. Kaitani maintained that Seniloli was legally entitled to a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. He went on to accuse Ganilau of hypocrisy, saying that he himself had been accused of involvement in Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara's forced resignation as President on 29 May 2000. There were also accusations that Ganilau was undermining the political neutrality of the Bose Levu Vakaturaga with his calls for a revival of the defunct Fijian Alliance, the multi-racial political party founded by Ratu Mara, which governed Fiji from 1967 to 1987. His call received support from a number of political factions, including the Indo-Fijian-dominated National Federation Party, but received a cool welcome from Prime Minister Qarase's United Fiji Party, which would see the revived Alliance as an unwanted rival, especially for the ethnic Fijian vote. Ganilau hinted that he himself would play a role in reviving the Alliance, and it the decision to oust him from the leadership of the Great Council of Chiefs was widely seen as a ploy to prevent him from using the Council as a platform from which to advance his own political ambitions.

On 18 January 2005, Ganilau formally registered the National Alliance Party of Fiji. Joining him were university lecturer Meli Maqa as party secretary, and Manu Korovulavula as treasurer. Ganilau said the party would be multiracial and would pursue national reconciliation, something he had attempted with less success as Chairman of the Bose Levu Vakaturaga. "I was quite outspoken about the need to respect the rights all citizens in Fiji during my role as chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs," he said, "but that did not go down well with some. That is why I decided it was best to continue the fight on a political platform."

External link

• Ganilau's speech at the launch of the NAP, 8 April 2005