Thomas Esang "Tommy" Remengesau Jr. is a Palauan politician;in 2013 he was elected the ninth president of Palau and was re-elected to that office in 2016. Previously he served as the seventh president of the island nation from 2001 to 2009. He served as a Senator in the Palau National Congress between his two administrations. In sum,Remengesau was elected Vice-President of Palau in 1992 and 1996,then president in 2000,2004,2012 and 2016.
Palau has a bicameral legislature,the Palau National Congress,consisting of the House of Delegates and the Senate of Palau,which both sit at the capitol complex in Ngerulmud,Melekeok State. The House of Delegates has 16 members,each serving four-year terms in single-seat constituencies. The Senate has 13 members,also serving four-year terms in multi-seat constituencies. In the last elections,held in 2020,only non-partisans were elected;no political parties exist.
Kuniwo Nakamura was a Palauan politician who served as the President of Palau from 1993 to 2001. He had earlier served as Vice President of Palau from 1989 to 1993,under Ngiratkel Etpison.
Haruo Ignacio Remeliik was the first President of Palau from 2 March 1981 until his assassination on 30 June 1985. He is buried at Kloulklubed in his home state of Peleliu. Remeliik was of mixed Japanese and Palauan descent.
Sandra Sumang Pierantozzi is a Palauan politician. She served as the country's Vice-President from 19 January 2001 to 1 January 2005. Pierantozzi was defeated by Camsek Chin in the 2 November 2004 vice-presidential election,winning only 28.9% of the vote.
General elections were held in Palau on 4 November 2008 to elect the President and members of the National Congress. The presidential election was won by Johnson Toribiong. Incumbent President Tommy Remengesau was ineligible to run because he had served the maximum two consecutive terms allowed and announced that he would run for a seat in the Senate.
James Benjamin Peake was the sixth United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs,serving from 2007 to 2009. In 2004,he retired from a 38-year United States Army career. He also served as the 40th Surgeon General of the United States Army.
Johnson Toribiong is a Palauan attorney and politician. Toribiong became the president of Palau,following his victory in the November 2008 election,and left office in 2013. Before 2020 elections,Toribiong has run for president four times - in 1992,1996,2008 and 2012.
Hokkons Baules is a businessman and a politician,and currently a member of the Senate of Palau. He has been the president of the Senate since 19 January 2017. He was elected in 2008 to fill the seat of the late Senate president Johnny Reklai. He had previously served in the Senate of the Second Olbiil Era Kelulau from 1985 until 1988.
Surangel S. Whipps is a Palauan businessman and politician. He served as the president of the Senate of Palau from January 2005 to April 2005,and from 25 April 2007 to 15 January 2009,and as the speaker of the House of Delegates of Palau from January 1993 to November 1996. He was born in Airai.
Ngerulmud is the seat of government of the Republic of Palau,an island nation in the Pacific Ocean. It replaced Koror City as a capital in 2006. The settlement is located in the state of Melekeok on Babeldaob,the country's largest island,located 20 kilometers northeast of Koror City and 2 km northwest of Melekeok City. It is the least-populous capital city of a sovereign nation in the world.
There is a small Japanese community in the Pacific Island country of Palau,which mainly consists of Japanese expatriates residing in Palau over a long-term basis. A few Japanese expatriates started to reside in Palau after it gained independence in 1994,and established long-term businesses in the country. Japanese settlement in Palau dates back to the early 19th century,although large scale Japanese migration to Palau did not occur until the 1920s,when Palau came under Japanese rule and administered as part of the South Seas Mandate. Japanese settlers took on leading administrative roles in the Japanese colonial government,and developed Palau's economy. After the Japanese surrender in 1945,virtually all of the Japanese population was repatriated back to Japan,although people of mixed Japanese-Palauan descent were allowed to remain behind. People of Japanese-Palauan descent constitute a large minority of Palau's population as a result of substantial intermarriage between the Japanese settlers and Palauans. They generally identify with,conforming to cultural norms and daily lives with the Palauans.
Peter Lawrence Naoya Sugiyama was a Palauan politician.
The sport of baseball is widely played in Palau,having been introduced by the Japanese during their occupation of the island nation. The highest level of league play in Palau in represented by Palau Major League (PML),which is overseen by the Belau Baseball Federation. The country is represented in international play by the Palau national baseball team.
A six-part referendum was held in Palau on 2 November 2004 alongside the country's general elections. Voters were asked questions on summoning a Constitutional Convention,payment of members of the National Congress,creating a unicameral Congress,term limits for Congress members,election of the President and Vice President and dual citizenship. All proposals were approved except the unicameral Congress,which despite receiving a majority of the public vote,did not meet the quorum of 12 of 16 states required for amendments to the constitution.
A twenty-three-part referendum was held in Palau on 4 November 2008 alongside the country's general elections. Voters were asked questions on requirements of citizenship to hold office,government provision of primary school and health care,the definition of marriage and term limits for Parliament. Only the proposal permitting naturalization for certain adoptees failed to obtain the requisite majority of the vote and majority in 3/4th of the states.
Raynold B. Oilouch is a Palauan politician who served as the Vice President of Palau from 19 January 2017 to 21 January 2021. Oilouch was elected vice president in the 2016 elections. He was also the Minister of Justice.
The Ministry of Justice in Palau is part of the Executive Branch and consists of the following bureaus:
Temmy Shmull is a Palauan politician. He worked in the government as a foreign service officer and later became an advisor to Thomas Remengesau Sr. in 1985. He was the Chief of Staff of President Kuniwo Nakamura before becoming Minister of State of Palau from 2001-2009 under Thomas Remengesau Jr. He was the Governor of Peleliu for 3 terms from January 2013 to January 2022 when he stepped down due to the term limits of the constitution of Peleliu.
