George Konrote
|
His Excellency Major-General(ret'd) George Konrote OF MC |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| President of Fiji | |
|
Assumed office 12 November 2015 |
|
| Prime Minister | Frank Bainimarama |
| Preceded by | Epeli Nailatikau |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Jioji Konousi Konrote 26 December 1947 Rotuma, Fiji |
| Political party | FijiFirst |
| Spouse(s) | Sarote Faga Konrote |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Natabua High School |
| Religion | Seventh-day Adventism |
Jioji Konousi Konrote, OF, MC, better known as George Konrote (born December 26, 1947), is a Fijian politician and retired Major-General of the Fiji Military who has been President of Fiji since 2015. After commanding a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, Konrote served as Fiji's High Commissioner to Australia from 2001 to 2006, as Minister of State for Immigration briefly in 2006, and as Minister for Employment Opportunities, Productivity and Industrial Relations from 2014 to 2015. He is the first non-iTaukei president and the first to be elected by parliament, as previous presidents were selected by the Great Council of Chiefs.
Konrote is a native of the island of Rotuma. His days as a pupil at Natabua High School in Lautoka, Fiji, are described in the prize-winning book on Fiji Kava in the Blood by Peter Thomson.
A career soldier, Konrote enlisted into the RFMF in 1966 and trained with New Zealand and Australian defence forces, studying at institutions such as the Australian College of Defence and Strategic Studies and the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra, Australia, (where he became a Fellow in 1996), and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 2000.
...
Wikipedia