Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has said Lands and Mineral Resources Minister Filimoni Vosarogo will also serve as Minister for Justice following Siromi Turaga’s resignation, with the government opting not to add another minister to Cabinet.
Rabuka said Vosarogo was doubling up in the justice role and identified Josaia Niudamu as the Assistant Minister. Niudamu was already serving in that position, meaning the arrangement outlined by the Prime Minister retains an existing assistant minister.
The remarks came during a media response in Levuka after a consultation on the Constitution Amendment Bill. Rabuka said the government would not appoint another Cabinet minister in the closing months of its term, leaving the justice brief with Vosarogo.
The decision places the justice portfolio alongside Vosarogo’s existing responsibilities for lands and mineral resources. It is a dual-role arrangement for a serving minister, rather than an expansion of Cabinet to bring in someone else to fill the vacancy.
Justice responsibilities
Vosarogo’s additional role concerns the leadership of the justice portfolio. His position as Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources remains part of the arrangement described by Rabuka: he will serve in justice as well, rather than move from one portfolio to the other.
The Prime Minister’s description of Vosarogo doubling up sets out how the vacancy will be covered without increasing Cabinet numbers. Responsibility for the two portfolios will sit with the same minister under the approach Rabuka outlined in his response.
Niudamu’s role is separate from that additional ministerial responsibility. Rabuka described him as already being the Assistant Minister, while naming Vosarogo as the minister who would also cover justice. The additional portfolio for Vosarogo does not represent a newly announced appointment for Niudamu.
Rabuka’s comments identify both the minister taking on the justice brief and the assistant minister already in place. They also distinguish the allocation of that brief from the question of Cabinet numbers, which the government does not intend to increase to fill the vacancy.
No additional Cabinet minister
Turaga’s resignation created the vacancy. Rabuka had confirmed earlier in October that Turaga had resigned from Cabinet. His latest comments concern the handling of the vacant justice portfolio, with Vosarogo named to serve in that role as well as continuing with his lands and mineral resources responsibilities.
The confirmation of Turaga’s departure and the decision on Vosarogo’s responsibilities are separate developments. The resignation left a ministerial role to be covered; Rabuka’s subsequent comments explain which serving minister will take it on and how the government intends to handle the vacancy.
The government’s stated position is not to appoint another Cabinet minister during the closing months of its term. Assigning justice to Vosarogo places the portfolio with someone already in Cabinet, consistent with Rabuka’s decision against adding a minister specifically to fill the gap left by Turaga.
The reference to the closing months of the term accompanied Rabuka’s statement that another Cabinet minister would not be appointed. The arrangement he described instead uses the existing ministerial line-up, with Vosarogo carrying the additional justice role and Niudamu already serving as Assistant Minister.
For the justice portfolio, the change is therefore at ministerial level following Turaga’s departure. Rabuka has named Vosarogo to carry that responsibility alongside lands and mineral resources, while making clear that the vacancy will not be filled by increasing Cabinet numbers.
