 |
| Alexander Merep | |
|---|---|
| Ibedul of Koror | |
| Reign | February 22, 2022 – present |
| Predecessor | Yutaka Gibbons |
Alexander Merep is the High Chief (ibedul) of Koror in the Republic of Palau.
|
| Alexander Merep | |
|---|---|
| Ibedul of Koror | |
| Reign | February 22, 2022 – present |
| Predecessor | Yutaka Gibbons |
Alexander Merep is the High Chief (ibedul) of Koror in the Republic of Palau.
Merep served as the director of the Koror State Public Land Authority. [1] He held the title rechucher-ra-techekii before being appointed by female Idid members led by Ochob Katey Ngiraked as the new Ibedul. [2] The appointment was accepted by the Ngarameketii (traditional chiefs of Koror) on February 22, 2022, and supported by the Koror hamlet chiefs. [2] The title of Ibedul is disputed by his sister Bilung Gloria Salii on behalf of her son James Lebuu Littler. [3]
His family are of English, Chinese and royal Palauan descent. [4] He is the brother of the former ibedul of Koror Yutaka Gibbons, Governor of Koror John C. Gibbons and bilung Gloria Salii. [3]
The politics of Palau take place in a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Palau is both head of state and head of government. Palau currently has no political parties and is a de facto non-partisan democracy although there is no law preventing the formation of political parties.
Koror is the state comprising the main commercial centre of the Republic of Palau. It consists of several islands, the most prominent being Koror Island. It is Palau’s most populous state.
Palau is divided into sixteen administrative regions, called states. Palau has a high ratio of government offices to citizens, with 16 states and both a tribal chiefdom and elected legislature in each state, for 20,000 people.
Lazarus Eitaro Salii was a politician from Palau. He served as the second elected President of Palau from 25 October 1985 until his death by suicide on 20 August 1988, amid bribery allegations.
The Supreme Court of Palau is the highest court of Palau. Article X of the Constitution vests the Supreme Court with judicial power and provides for its operation and jurisdiction. The Supreme Court is divided into a Trial Division and an Appellate Division. Cases are adjudicated by a single justice in the Trial Division and appeals are heard by panels of three different justices in the Appellate Division. The Trial Division of the Supreme Court has jurisdiction over all civil matters over $10,000 and criminal matters not assigned to the Court of Common Pleas and adjudication of land interests. The Supreme Court also handles disciplinary and other special proceedings. The Supreme Court consists of Appellate and Trial Divisions. Chief Justice, Oldiais Ngiraikelau, and Associate Justices John K. Rechucher and Fred M. Isaacs are currently serving in the former division, while Presiding Justice, Kathleen M. Salii and Associate Justice Lourdes F. Materne serve in the latter one. Other judges are invited to sit on an as-needed basis as Associate Justices Pro Tem or Part-Time Associate Justices.
Henry Wilson (1740–1810) was an English naval captain of the British East India Company, from Rotherhithe. He was in command of the British East India Company packet ship Antelope, when it shipwrecked off Ulong Island, near Koror Island in Palau in 1783, and the East Indiaman Warley at the Battle of Pulo Aura.
Roman Tmetuchl was a Palauan political leader and businessman. He grew up in Japanese-controlled Palau and joined the Kempeitai, the Japanese secret police, during World War II. After the war, he became the leader of Palau's Liberal Party. He worked in the Congress of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from 1964 to 1978 and advocated for Palau gaining a separate status from the rest of Micronesia. He became governor of Airai and engaged in three unsuccessful Palauan presidential campaigns. As a businessman, Tmetuchl led several construction projects for his business holdings and for the Palauan community, including the Palau International Airport and a Seventh-Day Adventist clinic.
Chinese have been settling in Palau in small numbers since the 19th century. The early settlers consisted of traders and labourers, and often intermarried with Palauan women. Their offspring quickly assimilated with the local populace and generally identify themselves as Palauan. In recent years, Palau has seen a growing expatriate business community from Taiwan, after Palau established formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1999.
Yositaka "Yosi" Adachi is a Palauan politician. He was the Governor of Koror for 3 consecutive terms from 2006 until 2018 when he stepped down due to the term limits imposed by the constitution of Koror.
Francisco Bares Gibbons is a Palauan politician. In January 2018, he became the youngest Governor of Koror. He previously held the position of Vice Speaker of Koror.
John "Johnny" C. Gibbons was a Palauan politician. He was the Executive Administrator of Koror from 1985–1997 and then became the first Governor of Koror from 1998–2006. He was the Minister of Justice from 2009–2013.
Yutaka Miller Gibbons was the ibedul of Koror from 1973 until his death in 2021. He was also an anti–nuclear weapons activist and political candidate.
Palau has several traditional chiefs of its 16 states.
Abba Thulle was the ibedul, 'paramount chief' of Koror whom the sailor Henry Wilson and his crew met on their voyage to Palau in 1783. His second son Prince Lee Boo became one of the first people from the Pacific Islands to visit Great Britain, but died six months after he departed. He learned of his son's death when Captain John McCluer later visited the islands. Andrew Cheyne wrote about his encounter with Abba Thulle in the book A description of islands in the western Pacific ocean, north and south of the equator. William Lisle Bowles wrote a poem about him entitled Abba Thule's Lament For His Son Prince Le Boo. A horse was named after him that later won the Doncaster Cup in 1790.
The following lists events that happened during 2021 in the Republic of Palau.
The following lists events that happened during 2022 in the Republic of Palau.
Tem was the High Chief (ibedul) of Koror in the South Seas Mandate from 1917 to 1943.
Ngoriakl was the ibedul of Koror from 1958 to 1972.
Gloria Salii holds the title of bilung of Koror which is the female counterpart of ibedul and highest ranking female chief in Palau.
There was a succession dispute following the death of Yutaka Gibbons, the ibedul of the state of Koror in Palau on November 4, 2021. Gibbons' younger siblings rechucher-ra-techekii Alexander Merep and bilung Gloria Salii both initially claimed the title but Salii would later relent her claim in favour of her son James Lebuu Littler. Merep was accepted as ibedul by the traditional chiefs of Koror and the Council of Chiefs though Salii maintains that her son is the ibedul.
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