SUVA, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Fiji's Parliament Speaker Jiko Luveni suddenly died Saturday at the age of 72.
According to Fijian media reports, Luveni died on Saturday morning after a short illness but the reports did not say what her illness was.
Luveni was the first Fijian woman to have graduated in dentistry and worked for Fiji's Ministry of Health for 20 years before working for the United Nations Population Fund as project manager for reproductive health.
In January 2008, Luveni was appointed as the minister of health and then the minister of social welfare, women and poverty alleviation.
In the 2014 general election, she was elected to parliament as the 14th highest-polling FijiFirst party candidate. She resigned her seat immediately following the election in order to become speaker, the first Fijian woman to hold the position.
Luveni was re-appointed to the position following the 2018 general election last month.
