The government of the Marshall Islands operates under a mixed parliamentary-presidential system as set forth in its Constitution.[1] Elections are held every four years in universal suffrage (for all citizens above the age of 18), with each of the 24 constituencies (see below) electing one or more representatives (senators) to the lower house of RMI's unicameral legislature, the Nitijela. (Majuro, the capital atoll, elects five senators.) The President, who is head of state as well as head of government, is elected by the 33 senators of the Nitijela. Four of the five Marshallese presidents who have been elected since the Constitution was adopted in 1979 have been traditional paramount chiefs.[2]
The Marshall Islands Capitol buildingH.E. Hilda C. Heine, first woman and former president of the Marshall Islands, walking through the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery Sept. 12, 2017.
The president is elected by the Nitijela from among its members. Presidents pick cabinet members from the Nitijela. Amata Kabua was elected as the first president of the republic in 1979. Subsequently, he was re-elected to four-year terms in 1983, 1987, 1991, and 1996. After Amata Kabua's death in office, his first cousin, Imata Kabua, won a special election in 1997. The current president was elected and took office on January 14, 2020.
The executive branch consists of the President and the Presidential Cabinet, which consists of ten ministers appointed by the President with the approval of the Nitijela. President appoints, among the members of Nitijela, Minister in Assistance to the President of Marshall Islands who acts as a substitute for the President.
The legislative branch of the government of the Marshall Islands consists of the unicameral Legislature (Nitijela) with an advisory council of high chiefs. Legislative power lies with the Nitijela. The Council of Iroij is an advisory body composed of 12 tribal chiefs. The Nitijela has 33 members, elected for a four-year term in 19 single-seat and five multi-seat constituencies. Members are called Senators. Elections in the Marshall Islands are officially nonpartisan, though candidates could be affiliated with one of the active political parties. There are currently four political parties in the Marshall Islands: Aelon Kein Ad (AKA), Kien Eo Am (KEA), United People's Party (UPP), and United Democratic Party (UDP).
Constituencies
The 24 electoral districts into which the country is divided correspond to the inhabited islands and atolls.
The Compact of Free Association with the United States gives the U.S. sole responsibility for international defense of the Marshall Islands. It allows islanders to live and work in the United States, and establishes economic and technical aid programs.
Judicial branch
The Republic of the Marshall Islands has four court systems: Supreme Court, High Court, district and community courts, and the traditional rights court. Trial is by judge or jury. Jurisdiction of the traditional rights court is limited to cases involving titles, land rights, or other disputes arising from customary law and traditional practice.
The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 coral atolls and five islands, divided across two island chains: Ratak in the east and Ralik in the west. 97.87% of its territory is water, the largest proportion of water to land of any sovereign state. The country shares maritime boundaries with Wake Island to the north, Kiribati to the southeast, Nauru to the south, and the Federated States of Micronesia to the west. The capital and largest city is Majuro, home to approximately half of the country's population.
Amata Kabua was the first President of the Marshall Islands from 1979 until his death in 1996.
Marshall Islands elects on the national level a head of state – the president – and a legislature. The president is elected for a four-year term by the parliament. The Legislature (Nitijela) has 33 members, elected for a four-year term in single-seat and five multi-seat constituencies. The Legislature was last elected in 2019 without the participation of parties, though part of the members could be members of the United Democratic Party. The Marshall Islands is a state in which political parties have not been active.
Iroijlaplap are the traditional paramount chiefs in the Marshall Islands. Ordinary chiefs bear the title of Iroij ; -ļapļap is a superlative suffix.
Kunio David Lemari was a Marshallese politician. He was the Minister of Justice from 1985 to 1987. He served as the acting President of the Marshall Islands from 20 December 1996 to 14 January 1997. He assumed office upon the death of the previous President, Amata Kabua, having previously served as the country's Minister of Transportation and Communications.
The Legislature of the Marshall Islands has 33 members, elected for a four-year term in nineteen single-seat and five multi-seat constituencies. The last election was November 20, 2023. Elections in the Marshall Islands are officially nonpartisan, but most members of the Nitijeļā are affiliated with one of the four active political parties in the Marshall Islands: Aelon Kein Ad (AKA), Kien Eo Am (KEA), United People's Party (UPP), and United Democratic Party (UDP).
Iroij Litokwa Tomeing was the President of the Marshall Islands from January 2008 until October 2009.
Iroijlaplap Jurelang Zedkaia was a Marshallese politician and Iroijlaplap. He served as the President of the Marshall Islands from 2009 to 2012. He was elected as the country's 5th head of state on October 26, 2009, following the ouster of his predecessor, Litokwa Tomeing, in the country's first successful vote of no confidence.
Leroij Atama Zedkaia was the Marshallese paramount chief, or Leroijlaplap, of Majuro. Leroij Zedkaia spearheaded the movement to break the Marshall Islands away from the rest of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands and form the independent Republic of the Marshall Islands. She was also the mother of Jurelang Zedkaia, who has served as the President of the Marshall Islands from 2009 to 2012. Leroij is a title by a female paramount chief, or Leroijlaplap, in the Marshall Islands.
Christopher Jorebon Loeak is a Marshallese politician who was the President of the Marshall Islands from 2012 to 2016. He was elected by parliament as President in January 2012, following the 2011 general election.
David Kabua is a Marshallese politician who served as President of the Marshall Islands from 2020 to 2024. He has represented Wotho Atoll in the Legislature of the Marshall Islands since 2008 and served terms as Minister of Health and Internal Affairs.
Hilda Cathy Heine is a Marshallese educator and politician who has served as the president of the Marshall Islands since 2024, having previously served from 2016 to 2020. Prior to assuming office, she served as the Minister of Education. She was the first individual from the Marshall Islands to earn a doctorate degree, and the founder of the women's rights group Women United Together Marshall Islands (WUTMI).
Casten Ned Nemra is a Marshallese politician who was President of the Marshall Islands for 17 days in January 2016. He was elected by the Nitijeļā (Parliament) as President in January 2016, following the 2015 general election, narrowly defeating Senator Alvin Jacklick, a seven-term member of Parliament, by a 17–16 vote. He was the youngest person to hold the job and the second commoner. He was ousted by a vote of no confidence after just two weeks in office by the opposition for jumping ship and joining Iroij Mike Kabua's Aelon Kein Ad party along with Senators Dennis Momotaro and Daisy-Alik Momotaro.
Kenneth Kedi is a Marshallese politician. He was Speaker of the Legislature of the Marshall Islands between 2016 and 2024, having been re-elected in 2020. Kedi is a member of the Kien Eo Ad (KEA) party.
General elections were held in the Marshall Islands on 18 November 2019. Opponents of President Hilda Heine won a majority of seats.
The Constitution of the Marshall Islands is the supreme law of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, in force from 1 May 1979.
Kitlang Kabua is a Marshallese politician. She was elected to the Legislature of the Marshall Islands (Nitijeļā) for Kwajalein in the 2019 Marshallese general election, receiving 931 votes. She was 28 at the time of her election, making her the youngest person ever elected to the Nitijeļā. Kabua and former President Hilda Heine were the only two women who obtained a seat. She subsequently was appointed Minister of Education, Sports and Training in the cabinet of her uncle President David Kabua. Kabua took her oath of office on 13 January 2020. The formal inauguration of the cabinet took place on 20 January.
Brenson S. Wase is a Marshallese politician and a long-time member of the cabinet and senator in Nitijela.
General elections were held in the Marshall Islands on 20 November 2023, alongside a constitutional referendum.
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