1. Education and career

2. Tui Nayau candidate

3. Personal life

4. References

Education and career

Mara graduated from New Zealand's University of Otago with an LLB (Law) degree in 1983. This was followed by an LLM (Master's degree in Law) from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom in 1986. Meanwhile, he had served as a Legal Officer in the Attorney General's Chamber from 1984, rising to Principal Legal Officer in 1986. In 1987, he was appointed Fiji's Chief Administrative Officer for Foreign Affairs, and in 1991 he became Chargé d'affaires at the Fijian Embassy in Washington, D.C..

Upon returning to Fiji, Mara was elected to the House of Representatives in 1994 and served for a single term. During this time, he held Cabinet office as Minister for Fijian Affairs from 1997 to 1999, during which time he also served as Chairman of the Native Land Trust Board. He also led the Fijian Association Party from 1996 to 1998. In 1999 he was appointed to a diplomatic post, but returned to Fiji in the wake of the coup d'état that deposed his father from the Presidency in 2000. The following year, however, he took up his post as Roving Ambassador and High Commissioner.

On 13 August 2005, Foreign Minister Kaliopate Tavola said that Mara was being considered as a possible successor to Ratu Tevita Momoedonu as Ambassador to Japan. Momoedonu's term was due to expire in September, and he had indicated that he wished to return to Fiji. In the end, Mara was not appointed, however.

In 2006 Mara was appointed ambassador to the United States but did not take up the position.^[4] He was again appointed to the position in 2008.^[5] His departure from Fiji to take up the post was reportedly delayed by "internal processes" in the Ministry of foreign Affairs.^[6] The offer was eventually withdrawn with the government citing Mara's inability to meet a deadline due to protracted personal affairs.^[7] The Fijian ambassador to the United States as of December 2010 was Winston Thompson.^[8]

Tui Nayau candidate

On 18 March 2005, it was announced that five elders from his home island of Lakeba had visited him in Suva to invite him to succeed his late father as Tui Nayau, or Paramount Chief of the Lau Islands. Although not strictly hereditary, the title is traditionally held by a male in the chiefly Vuanirewa Clan, a tradition his father reportedly wanted upheld. One village elder, who chose not to be named, said that Mara had both the blood ties and the modern education expected of a Paramount Chief. "He is a high chief, whose parents are both paramount chiefs and have strong blood ties with all the chiefly households in Fiji and Tonga, is young and can look after his people," the elder said.

Others expressed disappointment, however, that the elders had gone public before Ratu Finau had made a final decision on accepting the invitation, saying that the publicity was an insult to him and the other children of the late Ratu Mara.

As of July 2005, there was still no public announcement as to whether Mara has accepted the invitation to become the Tui Nayau, but his elder sister, Adi Ateca Ganilau, said that discussions between the family and the mataqali (clan) were ongoing. She said there was no time limit; her father had been installed only after three years of discussions.

On 13 March 2006, the Fiji Village news service quoted Lau Provincial Council Chairman Ratu Josefa Basulu as saying that Mara had accepted an invitation from the chiefly Vuanirewa clan to succeed his late father as Tui Nayau, or Paramount Chief of Lau. A date for installation had yet to be finalized, he said.

Personal life

Mara has two children (Ratu Salesi Kinikinilau Mara and Adi Lawedua Rokolubatilakeba Mara) with Vitinia Tualau Buadromo. In 2004, he attended his father's state funeral in the capital, Suva, but was absent from the family funeral in Lakeba. He, along with his brother Roko Tevita Uluilakeba and his sister, Adi Ateca Ganilau, were similarly absent from the Vakataraisulu ceremony, to mark the end of the year of mourning, held in the chiefly village of Tubou, Lakeba. Local people expressed sadness that Ratu Finau and his siblings, who cited prior commitments, were unable to attend the Vakataraisulu.

References

• University Hospital Basel
• University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire
• University Hospital Medical Center at Treichville
• University Hospital of Montpellier
• University Hospital of the West Indies
• University Hospitals Birmingham
• University Hospital "Shefqet Ndroqi"
• University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust
• University House (Newcastle)
• University in Slovenia
• University Institute for International and European Studies
• University Institute of Applied Management Sciences
• University Institute of Technology of Mantes en Yvelines
• University Inter FC
• University Inter F.C.
• University Islamic Financial
• University Johannesburg Alumni Team
• University Junior High School
• University Laboratory School
• University Laboratory School and College
• University Law College, Bangalore
• University Libraries Network of Spain
• University Library in Bratislava
• University Library in Bratislava Digital Library
• University Library, Lund