Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of the 2020 census, with more than half living on Tarawa atoll. The state comprises 32 atolls and one remote raised coral island, Banaba. Its total land area is 811 km2 (313 sq mi) dispersed over 3,441,810 km2 (1,328,890 sq mi) of ocean.
The islands which now form the Republic of Kiribati have been inhabited for at least seven hundred years, and possibly much longer. The initial Austronesian peoples’ population, which remains the overwhelming majority today, was visited by Polynesian and Melanesian invaders before the first European sailors visited the islands in the 17th century. For much of the subsequent period, the main island chain, the Gilbert Islands, was ruled as part of the British Empire. The country gained its independence in 1979 and has since been known as Kiribati.
Anote Tong is an I-Kiribati politician for the Pillars of Truth party and environmental activist with half Chinese heritage, who served as the fourth president of Kiribati, from 2003 to 2016. He won the election in July 2003 with a slim plurality of votes cast (47.4%) against his older brother, Harry Tong (43.5%) and the private lawyer Banuera Berina (9.1%). The elections were contested by the opposition, due to allegations of electoral fraud but the High Court of Tarawa had confirmed that there was no fraud. He was re-elected on 17 October 2007 for a second term (64%). In 2012, Tong was reelected for a third term, although with a significantly smaller percentage than in the previous two elections.
Teburoro Tito is an I-Kiribati politician who served as the third president of Kiribati and foreign minister from 1 October 1994 to 28 March 2003. He was elected for the first time in 1994. He was reelected in 1998 with 52% of the vote. His main opponent was Harry Tong. Tito was reelected again in February 2003 with 50.4% of the vote. His main opponent was then Taberannang Timeon. Tito, however, was deposed by the Parliament in a no confidence vote just one month after his reelection. One of the main reasons for his ejection was his decision to lease an ATR-72-500 aircraft at the government's expense; this lease cost A$8 million during the first six months.
Romania elects on a national level a head of state – the president – and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people. The Romanian Parliament has two chambers. The Chamber of Deputies has currently 330 members, elected for a four-year term by party-list proportional representation on closed lists. The Senate has currently 136 members, elected for a four-year term by party-list proportional representation on closed lists.
Elections in Benin take place within the framework of a multi-party democracy and a presidential system. Both the President and the National Assembly are directly elected by voters, with elections organised by the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA).
There are currently two types of elections in Singapore. Parliamentary and presidential elections. According to the Constitution of Singapore, general elections for Parliament must be conducted within three months of the dissolution of Parliament, which has a maximum term of five years from the first sitting of Parliament, and presidential elections are conducted every six years.
Honduras National Congress has 128 members (diputados); they serve four-year terms.
Elections in Kiribati are held every 4 years or, earlier, after a no confidence vote. They consist in the national elections of the Maneaba ni Maungatabu from whom is then elected the Beretitenti, shortly after, by the people. They are also local elections of the Councils.
Pillars of Truth was a political party in Kiribati, until 2020 when it merged with the Kiribati First Party to create the Boutokaan Kiribati Moa Party.
Protect the Maneaba is a political party in Kiribati created by the merger of the National Progressive Party and the Christian Democratic Party. At the last presidential elections of July 4, 2003, its candidate Harry Tong won 43.5% of the vote, leaving his brother Anote Tong, with 47.4%, the winner. In the legislative elections of two months earlier, the party won 24 out of 41 elected seats. In the 22 August and 30 August 2007 House of Assembly of Kiribati elections, the party won only seven seats. Maneaba is Gilbertese for Assembly.
Presidential elections were held in Kiribati on 17 October 2007, following the 2007 parliamentary election. President Anote Tong, who was re-elected to parliament in the first round of the parliamentary election, sought another term as president. At the first parliamentary session, four candidates were chosen to appear on the ballot: Anote Tong, Patrick Tatireta, Timon Aneri, and Nabuti Mwemwenikarawa. Opposition nominees Harry Tong and Tetaua Taitai were excluded from the ballot, upon which the opposition called for a boycott of the election.
Early parliamentary elections were held in Kiribati on 9 May 2003, with a second round on 14 May. The result was a victory for Protect the Maneaba, which won 24 of the 40 elected seats.
Dr. Harry Tong, is an I-Kiribati politician with Chinese heritage. He was born in Tabuaeran, Line Islands and is the second child of Chinese immigrant Tong Ting Hai and Nei Keke Randolph, of Abaiang and Maiana. Harry Tong attended Wanganui Collegiate School in New Zealand, and then went on to complete his medical training at the Fiji School of Medicine.
Parliamentary elections were held in Kiribati on October 21 and 28, 2011. In the first round, exactly half of the 44 members of parliament were elected, with the remainder chosen in the proceeding run-off elections. 30 candidates were reelected, and four government ministers lost their seats. One seat had to go to a third round of elections due to two candidates tying in the second round. In the third round, Jacob Teem defended his seat against Rutio Bangao with just 27 votes difference. The parliament in Kiribati is known as Maneaba ni Maungatabu. The next parliamentary election was not scheduled until 2015.
Presidential elections were held in Kiribati on 13 January 2012, following two-round parliamentary elections held in October 2011. Incumbent President Anote Tong sought re-election to a third four-year term, ending months of speculation about his decision.
Taomati T. Iuta was an I-Kiribati politician. He was Speaker of the House of Assembly of Kiribati for the Ninth Parliament (2011–2015). He was the vice president of Kiribati from 1991 to 1994.
Tetaua Taitai was an I-Kiribati physician, politician and businessman. He was originally from the atoll of Tabiteuea North, but resided in the neighboring Tabiteuea South in the southern part of Kiribati. Taitai was the brother-in-law of former Kiribati President Teburoro Tito.
Presidential elections were held in Kiribati on 25 February 2003. The result was a victory for incumbent President Teburoro Tito, who received 50% of the vote. However, Tito was removed from office following a vote of no confidence in the House of Assembly in March 2003, and fresh elections were held in July.
Taneti Maamau is an I-Kiribati politician who has served as the sixth president of Kiribati since 11 March 2016.
