Party of National Unity

The Party of National Unity (better known by its acronym of PANU) was a Fijian political party founded by Ratu Sairusi Nagagavoka in 1998; by the time of the military coup of 2006, Nagagavoka remained the President of the party. A well-known member of the party was Apisai Tora. Presenting itself as a multiracial party representing the interests of Ba Province in particular, it formed part of the Fiji Labour Party-led People's Coalition in the general election of 1999, and won four seats in the House of Representatives. It lost all of its seats in the following election, in 2001, but party stalwart Ponipate Lesavua was appointed to the Senate as one of 8 nominees of Opposition Leader Mahendra Chaudhry. Merger with BKV PANU's chief rival for support in Ba Province was the Protector of Fiji, better known locally as Bai Kai Viti (BKV), with which it merged in 2004 to form the People's National Party (PNP). Following the completion of the merger, PANU and the BKV were both formally deregistered on 23 August 2005. Reregistration of PANU Not all PANU supporters were happy about the party's dissolution, however, or about the decision of the merged party to participate in the Grand Coalition Initiative Group, an electoral coalition of ethnic Fijian parties seeking to present a united front for the forthcoming election, scheduled for August or September 2006. On 25 November 2005, Lesavua announced that in response to public demand, he and a number of others were spearheading attempts to revive the party and reregister it. The necessary documents would be filed with the Elections Office within a week, Lesavua said. "The party is being revived because of the great demand from people at the grassroot level for PANU to contest the 2006 general election, he stated. The Fiji Times reported on 11 January 2006 that Lesavua had made the necessary arrangements the previous week to reregister the party. The failed merger with the BKV had been on the basis of a promise not to enter into any racially exclusive or biased coalition. The breach of this promise was a dangerous trend amongst the majority of Fiji's political parties, Lesavua said.