Ganilau was appointed to the "Bose Levu Vakaturaga" (Great Council of Chiefs) in 1999 as one of six representatives of the Fijian government. Ganilau was elected chairman on 3 May 2001 after his predecessor, Sitiveni Rabuka, stepped down amid accusations that he (Rabuka) may have been involved in the George Speight-led ethno-nationalist coup that deposed Fiji's elected government in May 2000. The "Bose Levu Vakaturaga" is a formal assembly of Fijian hereditary chiefs, along with a number of specially qualified commoners, chosen mainly by Fiji's provincial councils. The Council of Chiefs also had a constitutional role in functioning as an electoral college to elect the President of the republic, as well as 14 of the 32 Senators.