Fijian politician
Satendra Nandan is an Indo-Fijian academic, writer, and former politician. He is one of Fiji's leading writers.[1]
Early life
Nandan was born in Nadi, Fiji.[2] After completing his secondary education he studied at Delhi University, from where he obtained his degree in engineering.[3] He subsequently obtained a master of Arts from the University of Leeds and a PhD from Australian National University.[3] He taught at various schools in India, including the all-boys' boarding school The Doon School in Dehradun.[4] He joined the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji in 1969.
Political career
Nandan was first elected to the House of Representatives of Fiji as a National Federation Party candidate at the 1982 Fijian general election.[3] He was appointed to Sidiq Koya's shadow cabinet as education spokesperson, but resigned in 1985 as the National Federation Party began to fragment.[5] He subsequently resigned from the party and became an independent.[6] He contested the 1987 election as a candidate for the Fiji Labour Party, and was re-elected. He was appointed Minister of Health, Social Welfare and Women's Affairs in the government of Timoci Bavadra,[3][7] but was removed from office by the 1987 Fijian coups d'état.
Later life
After the 1987 coup, he migrated to Australia and took up a position at the Australian National University in Canberra. He worked as a professor of literature and director of the Centre for Writing. He returned to Fiji in 2005, where he helped establish the University of Fiji.[8]
Following the 2006 Fijian coup d'état he was appointed as interim chair of the military regime's Media Industry Development Authority, but withdrew for health reasons.[9] In 2012 he was appointed to the Constitutional Commission which drafted the 2013 Constitution of Fiji.[10][11]
