I was the deputy Chairman of the Democratic Union of the Pacific, and we started at 8 I think and I was called to the telephone and to be told there's a coup, the government has been overthrown - it was round about 9, 10 when the Parliament sat they had done then.

He was earlier installed as Tui Lau in 1963 following the traditional consultation process between the Yavusa Tonga in Sawana Lomaloma and the Tui Nayau his father. He was also a member of the Privy Council in London beginning in 1973. In 1992 he handed over power to an elected government.

He subsequently served as president from 1993 to 2000. Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara CF GCMG KBE (6 May 1920 – 18 April 2004) is considered the founding father of the modern nation of Fiji.