27 Facts About Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was born on 24 September 1965 and is a Fijian politician and a former cabinet minister.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was the Fijian Attorney-General and the Minister for Economy, Civil Service and Communications, and served as the Minister responsible for Climate Change under the FijiFirst government.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum is the third-highest polling candidate from the Fijian general elections of 2014,2018 and 2022.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum is the former General Secretary of the FijiFirst party.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum served as the Fijian Governor in the Asian Development Bank, was the ADB Chair of the Board of Governors in 2018.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was born and raised in Suva and was educated at Marist Brothers High School.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has a Masters in Law from the University of Hong Kong.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum completed his Bachelors Degree in Law from the University of New South Wales.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum completed a graduate diploma in legal practice from the University of Wollongong, and a bachelor's degree in political science from the Australian National University.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was a former senior legal officer in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was the General Manager of Legal and Compliance and was the Company Secretary in the Colonial Group of Companies for five years immediately prior to his appointment in the Interim Government by the President of Fiji.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum worked with the law firm of Minter Ellison in Sydney.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was on the board of Transparency International Fiji and has been President of the Fiji Young Lawyers Association.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was appointed to the interim government of Frank Bainimarama after the 2006 Fijian coup d'etat as Interim Attorney-General and Justice Minister.

When Bainimarama formed the FijiFirst party, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was appointed its general secretary.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum contested the 2014 election winning 13,753 votes and the 2018 Fijian general election winning 17,271 votes, being the third-highest polling candidate in both elections.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was re-elected in the 2022 Fijian general election with 22524 votes, again pulling in the third-highest number of votes after former Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama and Sitiveni Rabuka.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum questioned the validity of the new coalition between the National Federation Party and The People's Alliance citing concerns raised previously by SODELPA's outgoing general secretary.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum later resigned from Parliament and currently operates his law firm in Nadi under the name Khidmat Law.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum led national public consultations on the draft 2013 Fijian Constitution in the interior, urban, rural and maritime parts of Fiji.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum oversaw a programme of civil service reform within the Fijian Government to promote merit-based recruitment and advancement.

In Fiji, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum spearheaded the creation of the climate change division in the Ministry of Economy to mainstream the critical issue in national planning and public financing decisions, making Fiji one of the few countries in the world where climate change sits with the ministry responsible for finance.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum established a working group in the Office of the Attorney-General to examine peripheral legal issues related to climate change.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum oversaw the Fijian Government's digital transformation programme to digitise government services through a flagship partnership with the Singaporean Cooperation Enterprise, digitalFIJI.

In February 2024 Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was charged with abuse of office.

On 4 October 2024 Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was charged with 11 counts of abuse of office, 11 counts of receiving a corrupt benefit, 11 counts of breach of trust by a public servant, and 11 counts of unlawful carriage of a firearm on an aircraft.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum is the son of former MP Sayed Abdul Khaiyum.