Saula Telawa

Saula Telawa is a Fijian nationalist politician who serves as President of the New Nationalist Party, which advocates indigenous Fijian paramountcy. He has also championed the establishment of Christianity, the faith of most indigenous Fijians, as Fiji's official religion. He claims to be the heir to the legacy of the late nationalist leader Sakeasi Butadroka.

Telawa made media headlines on 12 January 2006, in the midst of a virtual breakdown in relations between the government and Military, which fuelled public fears of a possible coup d'état. The Qarase government's failure to amend the Agriculture, Land, and Tenants Act, which he described as "the heart and soul of the Fijian people," had forfeited its legitimacy with indigenous Fijians, Telawa said, and it should resign. He also called on Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes to stay out of the dispute between the government and the Military, saying that the Australian Hughes, as a non-Fijian, had no right to interfere and in so doing risk the lives of Fijian people.

Telawa made a surprising statement to the Fiji Sun on 20 January 2006, saying that its previous demand for the repatriation of Indo-Fijians, some 38 percent of the population, to India. Provided that they were Christians, Telawa said, persons of Indian descent would be welcome to join the party and contest the upcoming election under its banner. References from a Fijian chief and a church pastor would be required, to certify that a prospective candidate had been a born again Christian for at least three years.

Telawa has expressed scepticism about the workability of national reconciliation if the citizens do not all share the same faith. Non-indigenous citizens, whom Telawa called "foreigners" in the "Fiji Sun" interview, needed to respect the Fijians' God, he insisted. "The problem we are having is because the landowners allowed idol worship in the land and they have many temples being built around the country," he said.