 He was Minister for Commerce during his first year in Parliament, under Prime Minister Solomon Mamaloni, then Minister for Transport, Works and Utilities throughout his first full term in Parliament (1993-1997), under Francis Billy Hilly then Solomon Mamaloni again.He then briefly became Leader of the Opposition to Mamaloni's government in 1997.At the end of that term, he "exit[ed] politics for a while to focus on personal plans", but returned for the 2001 election, during which he regained his temporarily vacated seat.