Fiji’s Justice Minister Siromi Turaga has handed in his resignation, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has confirmed on Tuesday following a post-cabinet meeting.
It comes just days after an explicit video appeared on Turaga’s Facebook profile on the eve of Fiji’s 56th independence anniversary last Friday.
Rabuka confirmed to local reporters outside Government Buildings in the capital Suva that he has accepted Turaga’s resignation and did not comment further on the details.
The prime minister said that no one would be replacing him immediately and all of the government’s legal advice would be coming from the Solicitor-General’s Office.
Turaga, who was also the acting Attorney-General, was in New Zealand when the explicit video surfaced in the public domain.
This is the second senior minister in Rabuka’s administration to get caught up in such a controversy. Fiji’s current Information Minister Lynda Tabuya had an intimate video leaked online in 2024.
Tabuya was initially suspended by Rabuka and moved to the backbench in early 2025, before being reinstated in August last year.
RNZ Pacific has contacted Turaga via phone and email but has yet to receive a response.
The saga comes as the Rabuka government tries to undertake a major constitutional reform process, including a national referendum touted for December and a general election by 6 February 2027 at the latest.
