He was first elected to the Niue Assembly in the 1990 election. In the leadup to the election Lakatani's Niue People's Action Party merged with Young Vivian's Action Party. Lakatani won a common roll seat and was appointed to the Cabinet of Robert Rex as Minister of Finance. He was sacked just five months later after circulating a petition calling for a change of leadership. He was re-elected in 1993 and reappointed as Finance Minister by Frank Lui. He resigned in March 1994, but was reinstated by Lui in the leadup to a confidence vote. He subsequently lost his finance portfolio in a cabinet reshuffle in October 1994 and resigned from Cabinet on 8 November. Lakatani joined the opposition, which organised itself into the NiuePeople's Party and effectively deadlocked the assembly. With other members of the opposition, Lakatani boycotted meetings of the Public Expenditure Committee, and as a result his seat was declared vacant in August 1995. He was reinstated after a successful challenge before the High Court and the new Niue Court of Appeal, but in the interim was re-elected, coming sixth on the common roll in the 1996 election. In October 1995 Lakatani was charged with 22 counts of bribery and two of official corruption. Most of the charges were dismissed after the Niue Court of Appeal found that the law against corruption did not apply to Members of the Assembly, and the remaining charges were later dropped.
Premier
Lakatani was re-elected at the 1999 Niuean general election, placing third on the common roll with 474 votes. He was subsequently elected leader of the Niue People's Party, and was elected Premier, defeating O'Love Jacobsen by 14 votes to 6. As Premier, he cut the pay of MPs, unsuccessfully attempted to obtain a loan from the Asian Development Bank to counteract declining assistance from New Zealand, and attempted to establish an airline. In July 1999 he was hospitalised in Auckland and underwent a double bypass heart operation. In his absence, the growing unpopularity of his government saw it lose its majority. A no-confidence vote in December resulted in a 10-10 tie, a judicial challenge, and an opposition walkout. In 2000, he narrowly avoided bankruptcy over a personal guarantee given for the debt of a Niue business, and this resulted in a further confidence vote which was again tied, 9-9. Lakatani faced a further confidence vote in November 2000. While Prime Minister he served as Chancellor of the University of the South Pacific. He was re-elected in 2002 Niuean general election, but his dictatorial leadership style saw him lose the leadership of the People's Party to Young Vivian, who subsequently became Premier, with Lakatani as his Deputy. In August 2002 he was sacked from Cabinet after voting against the budget. In 2003 he took an extended leave from the Assembly to look after his wife in Auckland. He resigned from the Assembly in June 2004.
