biography
pronunciation:
[rambooka]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1948– )
|
| biography:
| Fijian soldier, politician, and prime minister (1992–9), born near Suva, Fiji. He trained at Sandhurst Military Academy, served with the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, and returned to Fiji with the rank of colonel. After the 1987 elections, which resulted in an Indian-dominated coalition government, he staged a coup and set up his own provisional government. The country was declared a republic, and prime minister Mara was reinstated, but Rabuka retained control of the security forces and internal affairs. As leader of the Fijian Political Party with the rank of major-general, he became prime minister following the elections in 1992, and after defeat in the 1999 elections by Mahendra Chaudhry retained a presence in local politics, acting as mediator in the attempted coup by George Speight in 2000. |
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