Epeli Qaraninamu Nailatikau

Note: This article is about Epeli Nailatikau, the Fijian medical doctor and Senator. For the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who has the same name, see here.

Dr. Ratu Epeli Qaraninamu Nailatikau (born 1942) is a Fijian medical doctor and Senator. He was nominated on 24 September 2004 by the Fiji Labour Party, to fill a vacancy caused by the death of former Senator Joeli Kalou. Under the Constitution of Fiji, the Leader of the Opposition nominates 8 of the 32 Senators. The eight nominees of the Leader of the Opposition must reflect the political composition of the House of Representatives. As the Labour Party is the principle opposition, it gets to choose most or all of the 8 opposition Senators.

Nailatikau has had wide experience locally and internationally as a medical doctor. Once the chief medical officer to the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon, he later played an important role after the Fiji coup of 2000, as head of the trauma team providing counselling for the parliamentarians (and their families) who had been kidnapped and held hostage in the insurrection. Currently, he has his own medical clinic, the Siloah People's Clinic, in Tavua.

Nailatikau is married to Latu, a schoolteacher.