Sayed-Khaiyum was appointed to the interim government of Frank Bainimarama after the
2006 Fijian coup d'état as Interim Attorney-General and Justice Minister. The 2006 coup has been described by some political historians as a final intervention intended to unite the country and forever put an end to the nation's spate of ethno-nationalist military takeovers. When Bainimarama formed the
FijiFirst party, Sayed-Khaiyum was appointed its general secretary. 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. He 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. Following the 2022 general election which resulted in a hung parliament, he said was no change in government until there was a vote in parliament in accordance with the 2013 Fijian Constitution. He also 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. On 24 December 2022,
Sitiveni Rabuka was voted as Prime Minister on the floor of parliament and formed government with a wafer-thin majority of one vote. Sayed-Khaiyum later resigned from Parliament and currently operates his law firm in Nadi under the name Khidmat Law. On 9 December 2023 he resigned as general secretary of the FijiFirst party citing medical reasons while he was undergoing procedures in Singapore. He raised a number of issues in his resignation letter to the Leader of FijiFirst, commenting on constitutionalism, breakdown of law and order and failed economic policies of the coalition government.
Political reforms Sayed-Khaiyum led national public consultations on the draft 2013 Fijian Constitution in the interior, urban, rural and maritime parts of Fiji. The
2013 Fijian Constitution established common and equal Fijian citizenry and an equally weighted voting system. In the lead-up to the 2014 general election, Sayed-Khaiyum also helped implement a new system of electronic voter registration, shape Fiji's new political party and electoral laws and attract international assistance.
Economic reforms As the
Minister for Economy, Sayed-Khaiyum raised the income tax threshold from $16,000 to $30,000 and has progressively decreased Fiji's unemployment. Fiji is currently experiencing its lowest unemployment rate in 15 years, and the country's economy has recorded an unprecedented ten consecutive years of growth. Sayed-Khaiyum also oversaw a programme of civil service reform within the Fijian Government to promote merit-based recruitment and advancement.
Climate change advocacy As Minister responsible for climate change and the leader of Fiji's
COP23 delegation, Sayed-Khaiyum was also a global proponent of
climate adaptation and increasing access to climate finance, and worked with governments, multilateral organisations and development banks to allow countries such as Fiji to obtain adequate levels of funding—on the basis of vulnerability—to build their
resilience to climate change. At the COP23 negotiations, where Fiji served as president, parties agreed that the Adaptation Fund would serve the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the Fund was replenished with an impressive total of US$93.3 million. In Fiji, 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. He also established a working group in the Office of the Attorney-General to examine peripheral legal issues related to climate change.
Communications reforms During Sayed-Khaiyum's tenure as Minister for Communications, Fiji experienced a boom in access to high-speed internet services and Free-to-Air digital television, which is now available all throughout the geographically remote nation. Sayed-Khaiyum oversaw the Fijian Government's digital transformation programme to digitise government services through a flagship partnership with the Singaporean Cooperation Enterprise, digitalFIJI. == Criminal charges ==