By Netani Rika
FOREIGN Affairs Permanent Secretary, Brigadier Ioane Naivalurua, is expected to stand for Parliament on a Fiji First ticket.
Naivalurua will replace Defence Minister, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, who will not stand for re-election.
Both men are from Taveuni, the home of Social Democratic Liberal Party President, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu.
Naivalurua – a career military officer who has led the Fiji Police and the Corrections Service before becoming a diplomat – is from Naselesele Village on Taveuni.
Kubuabola and Lalabalavu are from Somosomo.
Naivalurua will become eligible for election this month, two years after returning from his posting as ambassador to China.