Sir Iakoba Italeli | |
---|---|
Speaker of the Parliament of Tuvalu | |
Assumed office 27 February 2024 | |
Monarch | Charles III |
Prime Minister | Feleti Teo |
Preceded by | Samuelu Teo |
Governor-General of Tuvalu | |
In office 16 April 2010 –22 August 2019 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Prime Minister | |
Preceded by | Kamuta Latasi |
Succeeded by | Teniku Talesi (acting) |
Member of the Tuvaluan Parliament for Nui | |
Assumed office 26 January 2024 | |
Preceded by | Puakena Boreham |
In office 3 August 2006 –16 September 2010 | |
Preceded by | Taom Tanukale |
Succeeded by | Taom Tanukale |
Attorney General of Tuvalu | |
In office 2002–2006 | |
Preceded by | Feleti Teo |
Succeeded by | Eselealofa Apinelu |
Personal details | |
Born | Iakoba Taeia Italeli |
Political party | Independent |
Spouse | Koling Italeli Taeia |
Alma mater | University of Malta |
Sir Iakoba Taeia Italeli GCMG is a Tuvaluan politician who was the governor-general of Tuvalu from 16 April 2010, [1] [2] [3] until 22 August 2019, [4] when he resigned to contest in the 2019 general election. [5] He was not successful in that election,however he was elected as a member of parliament in the 2024 Tuvaluan general election. [6] [7]
He is also a former attorney general of Tuvalu who served from 2002 to 2006. He was the chancellor of the University of the South Pacific from July 2014 to June 2015. [8]
In 2022 Italeli ran as Tuvalu's candidate to be the next Commonwealth Secretary-General. The aim was to fill the potential vacancy created if incumbent Patricia Scotland were to be prematurely disendorsed by a majority of member states,and to institute a pro-climate action agenda for the entire Commonwealth. [9] At CHOGM 2022 in Kigali,Rwanda,Italeli withdraw after an initial straw poll the votes were ultimately spit between Jamaican candidate Kamina Johnson Smith and Lady Scotland,who was victorious and stayed on as Secretary-General. [10]
Prior to entering politics,Italeli served in the Tuvaluan police force for two decades. [9] He worked his way up from constable to deputy commissioner. [11]
In 2001,Italeli graduated from the International Maritime Law Institute at the University of Malta. He was appointed as acting Attorney General in 2002,a position kept until 2006.
Italeli ran for public office for the first time in the Tuvaluan general election in 2006. He won the election,and became the representative of the Nui district in the Parliament of Tuvalu,a position kept for 4 more years. [12] He also served as the Minister of Education,Sports and Health,in the government of the Prime Minister,Apisai Ielemia. [12] He remained as minister until 2010 when he was appointed as governor-general.
Italeli was elected to represent Nui in the Parliament of Tuvalu on a non-partisan basis;this lack of alignment is not unusual in the politics of Tuvalu;unusually for Tuvalu,Italeli represented a constituency where trilingualism is a feature,since many inhabitants of Nui originate from Kiribati,and thus speak Gilbertese,in addition to Tuvaluan and English,the fluency of which varies among local people.
His younger brother,Isaia Italeli,was elected to Parliament,also as MP for Nui,in the September 2010 general election,and subsequently became Speaker,then Minister for Works and Natural Resources in the Telavi Ministry. [13] [14]
In 2010,Italeli was appointed Governor-General of Tuvalu by Elizabeth II,Queen of Tuvalu. He was appointed to the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George as a Knight Grand Cross (GCMG) on 21 June 2010.
In 2013,Italeli faced a political crisis when Prime Minister Willy Telavi's government lost a crucial by-election on 28 June and thereby lost its majority in parliament. The opposition thereafter held a majority of seats (eight to seven) and immediately called for the Prime Minister to advise that parliament be reconvened. [15] Telavi responded that,under the constitution,parliament was required to convene only once a year and he was thus under no obligation to advise the Governor-General to summon it until December 2013. [16] The opposition turned to Italeli and,on 3 July,he exercised his reserve powers by summoning parliament,against the Prime Minister's wishes,on 30 July. [17] With only five members of the governing party and eight members of the opposition party in the legislature, [18] the Speaker of the Parliament,Kamuta Latasi,still refused to allow a vote of non-confidence and Taom Tanukale,a member of Telavi's party,resigned his seat in parliament,prompting Telavi to assert that no confidence vote should be held until a by-election was conducted in Tanukale's district,but without giving a date for such an election. [19] The opposition subsequently appealed again to the Governor-General, [19] who then,on 1 August,replaced Telavi with the former opposition leader Enele Sopoaga as prime minister and ordered that parliament sit until 2 August to allow for the vote of non-confidence regarding Telavi's government to take place. [20] On the same day,Telavi declared he had written to Elizabeth II,the Queen of Tuvalu,advising her to replace Italeli as governor general and that Italeli "had been fired". [21] The Queen gave no indication of her reaction to Telavi's letter,leaving Italeli's position secure. [20]
Italeli was elected as a member of parliament for Nui in the 2024 Tuvaluan general election. [6] He follows the path set by Sir Tomu Sione who returned to the parliament following his term as Governor-General. [22]
On 27 February 2024,Sir Iakoba Italeli was elected as the Speaker of the Parliament of Tuvalu in an uncontested ballot. [23]
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.
Nui is an atoll and one of nine districts of the Pacific Ocean state of Tuvalu. It has a land area of 3.37 km2 and a population of 610.
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.
The Parliament of Tuvalu is the unicameral national legislature of Tuvalu. The place at which the parliament sits is called the Vaiaku maneapa. The maneapa on each island is an open meeting place where the chiefs and elders deliberate and make decisions.
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.
Apisai Ielemia was a Tuvaluan politician. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 2006 to 2010,and also held the role as Foreign Minister. He was returned as a member of parliament in the 2010 Tuvaluan general election. He was re-elected to parliament in the 2015 Tuvaluan general election. On 5 October 2016 Chief Justice Sweeney of the High Court of Tuvalu declared that Ielemia’s parliamentary seat was vacant as he was not qualified to be a member of parliament,as the consequence of the short time the opposition MP served time in jail following his conviction on 6 May 2016 in the Magistrate’s Court of charges of abuse of office during the final year of his term as prime minister. The abuse of office charges related to payments deposited into a National Bank of Tuvalu personal account. The 5 October 2016 decision of the Chief Justice was controversial as it appeared to contradict the June 2016 decision of Justice Norman Franzi of the High Court of Tuvalu that had quashed Ielemia’s conviction and acquitted him of the abuse of office charges. The appeal to the High Court held that the conviction was "manifestly unsafe," with the court quashing the 12-month jail term.
General elections were held in Tuvalu on 3 August 2006 to elect fifteen members to the Parliament. There were 5,765 eligible voters on the electoral roll. 32 candidates,including 2 women,competed for the 15 seats. All fifteen candidates elected were Independents,as there are no political parties in the country.
Willy Telavi is a Tuvaluan politician who was Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 2010 to 2013.
Parliamentary elections were held in Tuvalu on 16 September 2010. Voters elected fifteen members of the Parliament to a four-year term. All candidates were independents,as there are no political parties in the country. Ten out of the fifteen incumbent members were re-elected. The remaining five incumbents,including Deputy Prime Minister Tavau Teii,did not retain their seats. The incumbent Prime Minister,Apisai Ielemia,retained his seat in Vaitupu constituency. On 29 September,Maatia Toafa from Nanumea won eight of the fifteen votes to become Prime Minister.
The Cabinet of Tuvalu is the executive branch of the government of Tuvalu.
Dr. Falesa Pitoi is a Tuvaluan politician.
Taom Tanukale is a Tuvaluan politician.
Isaia Italeli Taeia,more commonly known as Isaia Italeli,was a Tuvaluan politician.
Pelenike Tekinene Isaia served in the Parliament of Tuvalu from 2011 to 2015. Before her election as an MP she worked for the Tuvalu Cooperative Society,as its branch manager in Nui.
The governor-general of Tuvalu is the representative of the Tuvaluan monarch,currently King Charles III,in the country of Tuvalu.
The Tuvaluan constitutional crisis was a political dispute in Tuvalu between the government,led by Prime Minister Willy Telavi,and the opposition,led by Enele Sopoaga,that was precipitated by the death of the Minister of Finance,Lotoala Metia MP on 21 December 2012,which eliminated the government's majority. The dispute was eventually resolved in August 2013 by a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Willy Telavi,following which Enele Sopoaga was elected Prime Minister.
The Telavi Ministry was the 13th ministry of the Government of Tuvalu,led by Prime Minister Willy Telavi. It succeeded the Second Toafa Ministry upon its swearing in by Governor-General Iakoba Italeli on 24 December 2010 after a vote of no confidence in former Prime Minister Maatia Toafa. Following Telavi's removal as prime minister,his ministry was subsequently brought down by the opposition's vote of no confidence and was succeeded by the Sopoaga Ministry,led by Enele Sopoaga,on 5 August 2013.
The Sopoaga Ministry was the 14th ministry of the Government of Tuvalu,led by Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga. It succeeds the Telavi Ministry upon its swearing in by Governor-General Sir Iakoba Italeli on 5 August 2013.
A by-election was held in the Nui constituency in Tuvalu on 10 September 2013. It was triggered by the resignation of the incumbent,MP Taom Tanukale,the Minister for Health,in the government of Willy Telavi.