1998 Tuvaluan general election

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1998 Tuvaluan general election
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←  1993 26 March 1998 2002  →
All 12 seats in the Parliament of Tuvalu
 First party
 
Party Independents
Seats before12
Prime Minister 0000000 before election

Bikenibeu Paeniu

Subsequent
Prime Minister

Bikenibeu Paeniu

General elections were held in Tuvalu on 26 March 1998. [1]

Contents

There are no formal parties in Tuvalu. The political system is based on personal alliances and loyalties derived from clan and family connections. [2] The Parliament of Tuvalu is rare among national legislatures in that it is non-partisan in nature. It does tend to have both a distinct government and a distinct opposition. [2]

All candidates for the 12 seats ran as independents, with seven of the incumbents retaining their seats. Following the election, Bikenibeu Paeniu was re-elected Prime Minister. [3]

Background

On 18 December 1997 the parliament was dissolved and the general election was held on 26 March 1998. During the election campaign, candidates from the incumbent government and the opposition traded allegations of sexual and financial misconduct.

Results

Seven incumbent members were re-elected, including Bikenibeu Paeniu, Otinielu Tausi, Ionatana Ionatana, Tomasi Puapua and Alesana Seluka, and opposition MPs Koloa Talake and Faimalaga Luka. [4] Two members of previous parliaments were elected, including Kokea Malua of Nanumea, [4] while three members were new to parliament; Lagitupu Tuilimu of Nanumea, Teleke Peleti Lauti of Funafuti and Samuelu Teo of Niutao. [4] Former prime minister Kamuta Latasi, who represented Funafuti, lost his seat. [4]

ConstituencyMembersNotes
Funafuti Ionatana Ionatana Died on 8 December 2000
Teleke Peleti Lauti
Nanumaga Otinielu Tausi
Nanumea Kokea Malua
Lagitupu Tuilimu
Niutao Samuelu Teo
Tomu Sione
Nui Alesana Seluka
Nukufetau Faimalaga Luka
Nukulaelae Bikenibeu Paeniu
Vaitupu Koloa Talake
Tomasi Puapua

Aftermath

Paeniu was re-elected Prime Minister on 8 April, defeating Koloa Talake by a vote of 10–2. [3] [5] He subsequently announced the formation of a cabinet consisting of Ionatana Ionatana as Minister for Health, Women and Community Affairs and Minister for Education and Culture, Alesana Kleis Seluka as Minister for Tourism, Trade and Commerce and Minister Finance and Economic Planning, Otinielu Tausi as Minister of Works, Energy and Communications and Kokea Malua as Minister for Natural Resources and the Environment, Minister of Home Affairs and Rural Development and deputy prime minister. [5] Tomu Sione was appointed as Speaker.

Paeniu later resigned following a motion of no confidence on 27 April 1999. Ionatana was subsequently elected prime minister on 27 April. [6] He died on 8 December 2000. [7] Lagitupu Tuilimu was acting prime minister from 8 December 2000 to 24 February 2001, [8] with Faimalaga Luka becoming prime minister on 23 February 2001. [6] Luka's government lasted until December the same year, when he lost office as the consequence of another motion of no confidence. [6] On 13 December the former Minister of Finance Koloa Talake was appointed prime minister. [6] [9]

Related Research Articles

The politics of Tuvalu takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy, whereby the monarch is the head of state, represented by the governor-general, while the prime minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ionatana Ionatana</span> Prime Minister of Tuvalu (1938–2000)

Ionatana Ionatana, CVO OBE CPM, was a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu. He represented the constituency of Funafuti in the Parliament of Tuvalu. He was the fifth prime minister, and foreign minister, from 27 April 1999 until his death on 8 December 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saufatu Sopoanga</span> Tuvaluan politician (1952–2020)

Saufatu Sopoanga was a Tuvaluan politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Tuvalu from 2 August 2002 to 27 August 2004. He drew international attention for his speeches warning about the effects of the rising sea level on Tuvalu and other low-lying island countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Faimalaga Luka</span>

Faimalaga Luka OBE was a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu. He represented the constituency of Nukufetau in the Parliament of Tuvalu. He served as Governor-General and the Prime Minister of Tuvalu.

Lagitupu Tulimu is a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu, who represented the constituency of Nanumea. He served as the acting prime minister, and foreign minister, from 8 December 2000 to 24 February 2001 following the death of incumbent Ionatana Ionatana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanumanga</span> Reef island and one of nine districts of Tuvalu

Nanumanga or Nanumaga is a reef island and a district of the Oceanian island nation of Tuvalu. It has a surface area of about 3 km2 with a population of 491.

Tuvalu elects a legislature on a national level. The Parliament of Tuvalu has 16 members, elected for a four-year term in 8 double-seat constituencies. Tuvalu is a de facto non-partisan democracy since it does not have political parties. The political system is based on personal alliances and loyalties derived from clan and family connections. It does tend to have both a distinct government and a distinct opposition. The 16 members of the current parliament are elected from eight two-seat constituencies via plurality block voting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bikenibeu Paeniu</span>

Bikenibeu Paeniu, PC is a politician from Tuvalu. He represented the constituency of Nukulaelae in the Parliament of Tuvalu. He has served twice as the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, and now serving as Tuvaluan ambassador to Taiwan since June 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kamuta Latasi</span> Prime Minister of Tuvalu

Sir Kamuta Latasi is a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu from Funafuti atoll. He was elected to the Parliament of Tuvalu in 1992. Latasi served as the 4th prime minister, and foreign minister, from 1993 until 1996. He has served as the Speaker of parliament from 2006 to September 2010 and again from December 2010 to March 2014.

The Cabinet of Tuvalu is the executive branch of the government of Tuvalu.

General elections were held in Tuvalu on 27 September 1989. Bikenibeu Paeniu was elected prime minister following the elections and formed a five-member cabinet composed largely of opponents of the previous prime minister Tomasi Puapua.

General elections were held in Tuvalu on 2 September 1993. As there were no political parties, all candidates for the twelve seats ran as independents. Prime Minister Bikenibeu Paeniu was re-elected, along with all members of his cabinet, except Naama Latasi. However, supporters of Paeniu held six seats while supporters of the previous Prime Minister Tomasi Puapua held the other six.

Early general elections were held in Tuvalu on 25 November 1993, after the previous elections in September had resulted in a deadlock in Parliament, with supporters of incumbent and former Prime Ministers Bikenibeu Paeniu and Tomasi Puapua holding an equal number of seats.

Kokea Malua is a politician from Tuvalu. He has served in the Parliament of Tuvalu on numerous occasions representing the electorate of Nanumea.

Otinielu Tauteleimalae Tausi is a politician from Tuvalu for the constituency of Nanumanga. He served as the speaker of the Parliament of Tuvalu from 2003 until 2006, then again from March 2014 onward, and has also been the deputy prime minister of Tuvalu.

A by-election was held in the Nanumea constituency in Tuvalu on 5 May 2003. It was triggered by the annulment in February of incumbent MP Sio Patiale's election in the July 2002 general election. Patiale was found by the country's High Court of Tuvalu to have "lodged his nomination papers after the legal deadline", and thus not to have stood lawfully as a candidate in the general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuelu Teo</span> Tuvaluan politician

Samuelu Penitala Teo is a Tuvaluan politician. He is the son of Sir Fiatau Penitala Teo who was appointed as the first Governor General of Tuvalu (1978–1986) following independence from Great Britain. Samuelu Teo himself served as the Acting Governor-General of Tuvalu from January until 28 September 2021. He had succeeded Acting Governor-General Teniku Talesi and remained in office until the Rev. Tofiga Vaevalu Falani was sworn in as the 10th Governor-General in September 2021.

Alesana Kleis Seluka is medical doctor by profession and is the Chairman of the Public Service Commission of Tuvalu. He represented the constituency of Nui in the Parliament of Tuvalu. He served as the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning from 1996 until 1999, and Minister of Health from 2001 to 2006 and held other Cabinet posts.

The Minister of Finance of Tuvalu heads the Ministry of Finance of Tuvalu.

References

  1. ↑ Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p829 ISBN   0-19-924959-8
  2. 1 2 Hassall, Graham (2006). "The Tuvalu General Election 2006". Democracy and Elections project, Governance Program, University of the South Pacific. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Palamene o Tuvalu (Parliament of Tuvalu)". Inter-Parliamentary Union. 1998. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Tuvalu Elects 12 Members of Parliament". Pacific Islands Report. 27 March 1998. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Paeniu Re-Elected Tuvalu Prime Minister". Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i at Manoa /PACNEWS/tuvaluislands.com. 8 April 1998. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Lansford, Tom (2015). Political Handbook of the World 2015. CQ Press.
  7. ↑ Field, Michael (9 December 2000). "Tuvalu's Prime Minister Ionatana Dies After Giving Speech". Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  8. ↑ Clements, Quiton (December 2000). "Tuvalu Legislative Needs Assessment". UNDP. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  9. ↑ Page, Kogan (2004). Asia and Pacific Review 2003/04. Kogan Page Publishers. p. 261.
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