About Tomasi Kanailagi
Lived 1938 – 2018 (aged 79–80). Tomasi Kanailagi was a politician.
Tomasi Kanailagi ( — 14 June 2018) was a Fijian Methodist minister and political leader. He served as president of the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma from 1999 to 2001, He later supported the 2000 Fijian coup d'état.
In 2001 he was nominated to the senate by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. In August 2002, Kanailagi told the senate that non-indigenous Fijians should leave the country. He also accused the Fiji Times of being an agent of evil which was plotting against Christianity. In 2003 he opposed the Family Law Bill, which removed discrimination against women from many Fijian laws, claiming that it would undermine the traditional fabric of society. He lost his senate seat in the 2006 Fijian coup d'état. He was subsequently appointed chairperson of the Fiji Council of Churches.
Following the 2006 Fijian coup d'état, the military regime told the Methodist church that it would not be permitted to hold any more annual conferences until Kanailagi was removed from office. When the church attempted to hold its 2009 conference, he was arrested for violating the Public Emergency Regulations. He was subsequently charged with organising an unlawful meeting. The charges were eventually dropped in December 2016.
In 2010 he opposed the military regime's decree legalising homosexuality.
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Important facts
People in Tomasi Kanailagi's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Tomasi Kanailagi's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Tomasi Kanailagi?
Fijian politician
When was Tomasi Kanailagi born?
Tomasi Kanailagi was born in 1938.
When did Tomasi Kanailagi die?
Tomasi Kanailagi died in 2018.
What was Tomasi Kanailagi's occupation?
Tomasi Kanailagi was a politician.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Tomasi Kanailagi. https://biography.guide/tomasi-kanailagi/
MLA: "Tomasi Kanailagi." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/tomasi-kanailagi/.
Chicago: "Tomasi Kanailagi." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/tomasi-kanailagi/.
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