Ponipate Tawase Lesavua was a Fijian politician, who led the now-defunct Party of National Unity, which drew most of its support from Ba Province in the West of the country.
Lesavua won the Ba East Fijian communal constituency in the House of Representatives in the 1999 general election, as a candidate of the Party of National Unity (PANU), which he subsequently led in Parliament, having also acted as Sports Minister.
[2] Some major political realignments followed the failed coup d'état of May 2000, and in the general election of 2001, he was defeated by the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) candidate, Epeli Seavula.
Citing public demand, Lesavua announced on 25 November 2005 that he had decided to relaunch PANU, and would be filing within one week the necessary documents to reregister the defunct party.
He lost to the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) candidate, Paulo Ralulu, by a 2-1 margin,[3] however, and said subsequently that his party's alignment with the FLP had cost him support among indigenous Fijians.