Jilila Kumar

Fijian politician

Jilila Nalibu Kumar (born 1959) is a Fijian politician of Indian descent and a member of the Parliament of Fiji. She is a member of the FijiFirst party.

Kumar was born in Sigatoka Valley and educated at Fulton College before becoming a teacher.^[1] She had a long career as a teacher, eventually serving as Principal of Jasper Williams High School in Lautoka.^[1]

Kumar was named as a FijiFirst candidate on 15 August 2014.^[2] In the 2014 election she received 824 votes, but fell just short of entering parliament.^[3]

Kumar entered parliament as the next candidate on FijiFirst's list following the resignation of Dr Neil Sharma.^[4] She was appointed Assistant Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts, but lost the position after just one week.^[5] She was not selected by FijiFirst as a candidate for the 2018 election.^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b Farisha Ahmed (12 April 2015). "Meet Jilila Kumar, Soon-To-Be MP". Fiji Sun. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
^ "FijiFirst names Final 30". FBC. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
^ "2014 Election Results". Fiji Elections Office. Archived from the original on 21 September 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
^ Vuniwaqa Bola-Bari (11 April 2015). "FijiFirst MP leaves". Fiji Times. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
^ "Fiji minister out of job after one week". Radio New Zealand International. 21 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
^ Fonua Talei (20 September 2018). "Prime Minister Praises work of 11 MPs not in Poll Line-up". Fiji Sun. Retrieved 16 October 2018.