1987 Kiribati presidential election

Second re-election of Ieremia Tabai July 2024 July 2024 Kiribati presidential 1983 Kiribati presidential election 1983 1991 Kiribati presidential election 1991 12 May 1987 78.3% ( 9.0pp) Ieremia Tabai (cropped).png 10,800 50.12% File:Teburoro Tito (cropped).jpg 9,197 42.68% 1,550 7.19% dcdcdc dcdcdc dcdcdc President Ieremia Tabai Ieremia Tabai Ieremia Tabai Teburoro Tito Teatao Teannaki Home island Nonouti Tabiteuea 130x130px Teatao Teannaki 2014 (cropped).jpg Abaiang File:1987 Kiribati presidential election margin of victory map.svg Map of margin of victory by constituency Presidential elections were held in Kiribati on 12 May 1987. Three candidates for the presidency were chosen from among members of parliament; incumbent president Ieremia Tabai, incumbent vice-president Teatao Teannaki and opposition member Teburoro Tito. The campaign was heavily centred on a controversial deal that Tabai had negotiated with the Soviet Union in 1985, which granted the USSR fishing rights in the waters around Kiribati. Religion also had a significant effect on the political divide, with Protestants generally supporting Tabai's government and Catholics generally supporting the opposition. In addition, Tabai's candidacy was subject to a legal challenge, as the constitution limited presidents to three terms. The court declined to issue an injunction, allowing Tabai to run for president on the argument that he was elected as chief minister instead of president in 1978. The results saw Tabai re-elected with 50.1% of the vote, with Tito finishing second with 42.7% of the vote. Teannaki received 7.2%. Background President Ieremia Tabai was re-elected in 1983 with a strong mandate and support in parliament. Tabai entered talks with the Soviet Union in March 1985, negotiating access to the waters around Kiribati for tuna fishing.Van Trease 1993 60 The deal prompted backlash both domestically and internationally, but Tabai justified it by saying that it was "simply a commercial deal" and provided the nation a way to earn its income instead of relying on foreign aid.Van Trease 1993 61–62 Tabai's opponents expressed concerns that his actions would drive away neighbouring allies, cut off access to foreign aid, invite sanctions, or risk eroding democracy in favour of communism.Van Trease 1993 62 The Bishop of Tarawa made the Soviet fishing issue a religious one by siding against the government, and Catholics criticised the agreement for the involvement of a nation that opposed Christianity. Protestants generally supported the agreement. Tabai's government campaigned to garner support for the agreement, but they found themselves unwelcome to the people of the predominantly Catholic northern islands. A motion of no confidence was raised against Tabai, but it failed with 15 members of parliament supporting it and 19 against it.Van Trease 1993 62–63 The agreement expired without renewal in 1986.Van Trease 1993 64 The 1987 parliamentary elections were held on 12 and 19 March, narrowly preventing Tabai's government from achieving a majority with 20 out of 41 seats.Van Trease 1993 68 Candidates Six members of parliament nominated themselves as candidates, but three dropped out prior to the election. Ieremia Tabai, Teatao Teannaki, and Teburoro Tito were the final candidates.Van Trease 1993 68, 70 Opposition leader Harry Tong had originally been considered as a candidate, but he stepped aside in favour of Tito.Van Trease 1993 65, 70 Tabai and Teannaki were the incumbent president and vice-president, respectively, and they had both run as pro-government candidates in the 1982 and 1983 elections. Tito was a Catholic and a newly elected member of parliament from the Teinainano Urban Council constituency in South Tarawa. He had previously worked as an education officer organising soccer tournaments and had recently attended the University of the South Pacific. Tito built a reputation as "an energetic, highly articulate man" and garnered the favour of Catholic voters.Van Trease 1993 70 Campaign The opposition was energised by Tabai's victory in 1983 and the subsequent controversy around his fishing agreement with the Soviet Union.Van Trease 1993 63 Tabai denied that the fishing agreement was a factor in the elections, insisting that it was no longer a relevant issue.Bataua 1987a 25 National politics were a greater factor in 1987 than they were in previous elections, as the Soviet fishing agreement and other polarising debates between the government and the opposition shifted the focus of the public. The opposition organised under the label of the Christian Democratic Party, but this did not function as a true political party and the candidates ran as independents.Somoza 2001 675Van Trease 1993 67 Both Tabai and Tito limited their campaigning to the islands where they were most popular—Tabai in the south and Tito in the north—forgoing any attempt to garner votes from the other candidate's strongholds.Bataua 1987b 24 By 1987, Tabai's opposition came primarily from Catholics, aligned with the pro-labour movement that had previously been influential in the nation.Van Trease 1993 63 As they had in 1983, Catholics accused the Tabai government of favouring Protestants.Van Trease 1993 67–68 In Tarawa, Catholic churches ended sermons with pleas for their members to register to vote.Van Trease 1993 67 The Protestant Church countered by campaigning in the outer islands, alleging that the Catholic Church was plotting against the Tabai government.Van Trease 1993 68 Eligibility challenge Under the Constitution of Kiribati, a person is only allowed to be elected president three times, at which point they reach a term limit.Van Trease 1993 64 It was legally ambiguous whether the 1978 election counted towards his term limit, as the chief minister inherited the presidency upon the nation's independence in 1979. Tong issued a legal challenge, arguing that Tabai's elections in the 1978 chief minister election and the 1982 and 1983 presidential elections made him ineligible to be a candidate in 1987. The Attorney General of Kiribati argued in Tabai's defence.Van Trease 1993 65 As Tong had begun proceedings before he was re-elected in the parliamentary election, the High Court of Kiribati ruled that the filing was premature and dismissed the case. After being re-elected, Tong filed a second challenge in the High Court. The court issued its ruling the day before the election. As Tong had dropped out and was no longer in competition with Tabai, it ruled that he no longer had standing. His request for an injunction on Tabai's candidacy was declined.Van Trease 1993 65 One of the lawyers working with Tong, New Zealand attorney Roger Bell, flew to Tarawa on 10 May so he could add Tito as a plaintiff. Bell had been banned from the country during an unrelated case against the government in 1986, and he was turned away.Van Trease 1993 66 The court ruled that it had no jurisdiction over Bell's immigration status and that Tong was aware of Bell's inability to appear, but the opposition was incensed nonetheless.Van Trease 1993 67 The court also determined that it was not allowed to directly interpret the constitution unless it was on request of the speaker or the attorney general.Van Trease 1993 66 Tabai was ultimately allowed to run in the 1987 election, meaning that his 1978 election had not been for the presidency and he had only been elected to the presidency twice.Somoza 2001 675 Results The election was held on 12 May.Somoza 2001 679 Turnout was 78.3% of registered voters.Somoza 2001 682 Tabai was re-elected 50.1% of the vote. Tito received the highest vote share for any opponent of Tabai's government since independence with 42.7%. Teannaki, the other government candidate alongside Tabai, lost many of his Catholic supporters to Tito.Van Trease 1993 70 It was speculated that Teannaki split the Catholic vote in a way that made him a spoiler candidate for Tito instead of for his ally Tabai.Bataua 1987b 24 Ieremia Tabai 10800 Teburoro Tito 9197 Teatao Teannaki 1550 78.3 SomozaSomoza 2001 682 +Vote share percentage by constituencyVan Trease 1993 69ConstituencyTotal votesTabaiTeannakiTitoAbaiang1,44826.2%44.2%29.6%Abemama1,05633.4%3.4%63.2%Aranuka30363.0%3.3%33.7%Arorae82598.4%0.8%0.8%Banaba6238.7%12.9%48.4%Beru1,01768.1%6.9%25.0%Betio1,94753.7%6.3%40.0%Butaritari1,48722.5%4.5%73.0%Kiritimati55044.4%6.7%48.9%Kuria43058.8%3.3%37.9%Maiana90064.8%5.6%29.6%Makin73532.4%4.2%63.4%Marakei1,14315.8%4.0%80.2%Nikunau78470.2%4.3%25.5%Nonouti1,04461.2%1.7%37.1%North Tarawa90735.9%11.5%52.6%Onotoa93187.4%4.0%8.6%Tabiteuea North1,05135.2%1.2%63.6%Tabiteuea South49647.0%2.2%50.8%Tabuaeran17553.7%2.3%44.0%Tamana84898.7%0.1%1.2%TUC Teinainano Urban Council3,28846.8%5.5%47.7%Teraina12055.8%5.8%38.2%Total21,54750.1%7.2%42.7% Aftermath Though Tabai's new government lacked a majority after the election, occasional support from independent members of parliament allowed him to maintain control over the legislature.Van Trease 1993 70–71 Tito succeeded Tong as the opposition leader following the latter's resignation in 1989.Van Trease 1993 71 Tabai was term-limited after the 1987 election, so he supported Teannaki in the 1991 election. Teannaki won and succeeded Tabai.Somoza 2001 675 Notes References Bataua Batiri T. 1 May 1987a Strong Turnout in Kiribati Elections https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-338105543/view?sectionId=nla.obj-341604117&searchTerm=tabai&partId=nla.obj-338133695#page/n24/ Pacific Islands Monthly 58 5 25 Bataua 1987a Bataua Batiri T. 1 July 1987b Kiribati election results https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-338121268/view?sectionId=nla.obj-356591836&searchTerm=tabai&partId=nla.obj-338151606#page/n23/ Pacific Islands Monthly 58 7 24 Bataua 1987b Somoza Alexander Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook: Volume II: South East Asia, East Asia, and the South Pacific 2001 Oxford University Press 9780191600012 Nohlen Dieter Kiribati https://academic.oup.com/book/36353/chapter/319884688 subscription Grotz Florian Hartmann Christof 673–686 Van Trease Howard Atoll Politics: The Republic of Kiribati https://books.google.com/books?id=7rg-swcHq9QC 1993 Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies 978-0-9583300-0-8 Kiribati Presidential Category:Presidential elections in Kiribati Category:Non-partisan elections in Kiribati Category:Election and referendum articles with incomplete results