1994 Kiribati presidential election

Re-election of Teburoro Tito July 2024 July 2024 Kiribati presidential 1991 Kiribati presidential election 1991 1998 Kiribati presidential election 1998 30 September 1994 Teburoro Tito (cropped).jpg 10,834 51.14% 3,886 18.34% 3,383 15.97% 3,080 14.54% dcdcdc dcdcdc dcdcdc dcdcdc President Ieremia Tabai Teburoro Tito Teburoro Tito Tewareka Tentoa Roniti Teiwaki Peter Taberannang Timeon Home island Tabiteuea Onotoa 3x4.svg Tabiteuea Presidential elections were held in Kiribati on 30 September 1994. The result was a victory for Teburoro Tito, who received 51% of the vote. The elections were held following a motion of no confidence that dissolved the government of incumbent president Teatao Teannaki while an investigation was opened in the possible misuse of travel expense claims by its ministers. Members of the government brought multiple defamation lawsuits against the opposition in response to the claims of misconduct, some of which were not resolved until years after the elections. Background Vice-President Teatao Teannaki of the National Progressive Party (NPP) was elected president of Kiribati in 1991.Somoza 2001 675 Opposition leader Teburoro Tito led an investigation in 1993 to evaluate the travel expenses of Teannaki and his ministers. On the parliament floor on 16 December, he accused Teannaki's government of making inappropriate travel expense claims.James 2002 The no confidence vote The opposition proposed the creation of a select committee to investigate the matter in May 1994. The NPP objected, arguing that a select committee would be biased, and put forward an amendment that would make it an independent committee. The main opposition party, the Christian Democratic Party, joined with the centrist Maurin Kiribati Party to reject the amendment. The government tied the committee to a motion of no confidence, and the government was dissolved on 24 May when the vote failed 19 to 21.1 July 1994 Govt falls, new election due soon https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-342203837/view?sectionId=nla.obj-345663151&searchTerm=Kiribati&partId=nla.obj-342210157#page/n6/ Pacific Islands Monthly 64 7 7 Parliamentary elections were held in July.Somoza 2001 675 The Christian Democratic Party won a plurality with 13 seats, while the NPP's share was reduced to 7. The remaining 19 seats were held by independents.Somoza 2001 681 A major shift in party politics then took place: the Te Maneaba Party was created with Tito and Roniti Teiwaki at its head, while the independents rallied around Tewareka Tentoa in the Maurin Kiribati Party. The two groups formed a coalition, and only five members of parliament remained in the NPP.Macdonald 1998 33 Defamation lawsuits While speeches made in parliament were given immunity, comments elsewhere were subject to legal challenges. At a public meeting on 30 May, opposition members again said that Teannaki had misappropriated government funds for his own use.James 2002 The alleged defamation Teannaki saw a recording of the meeting on 13 July and filed a defamation lawsuit in the Magistrates' Court of Abiang against a member of the opposition, adding Tito as a defendant when the hearing began on 21 July. The lawsuit was postponed until after the election and never resumed.James 2002 The first action - Magistrates' Court of Abiang A similar lawsuit regarding the accusations was held the following month, where the Magistrates' Court of Betio ruled that interpretation of the law was subjective enough that accusations of misconduct could be reasonably made without malice and that the speech was subject to qualified privilege.James 2002 The second action - Magistrate's Court of Betio At the same time, Teannaki pursued a case in front of the High Court of Kiribati on 22 August, but proceedings were still underway on the date of the presidential election.James 2002 Commencement in the High Court Supreme Justice Faqir Mohammed overturned the case in Betio and combined the defamation cases into a single case in front of the High Court on 14 September. While doing so, he said that there was "not a shred of evidence", disregarding the expense claims that had been filed as evidence in the lower court. The NPP argued that this was effectively an exoneration.James 2002 Statutory Judicial Review of the Betio Magistrates' Court decision Candidates and campaign The opposition had enough votes to control all four positions on the presidential ballot and filled them with its own candidates.Macdonald 1998 32 It selected Teburoro Tito, Tewareka Tentoa, Roniti Teiwaki, and Peter Taberannang Timeon.Somoza 2001 682 Teiwaki and Timeon defected to the opposition prior to the election.Macdonald 1998 33 Tito was a member of parliament from Tabiteuea. Prior to the election, he was the opposition leader against Teannaki's government. He previously worked as a teacher.James 2002 The no confidence vote Tito was previously a candidate in the 1987 presidential election.Van Trease 1993 70 Teiwaki was a member of parliament for the Teinainano Urban Council constituency. He served in parliament until 1982, where he was minister of education and minister of finance. He returned to parliament in a 1990 by-election.Van Trease 1993 81 Teiwaki was previously a candidate in the 1978 Chief Minister election and the 1991 presidential election.Van Trease 1993 71 Tentoa was a member of parliament from Onotoa, first elected to parliament in 1982.Van Trease 1993 57 He became the leader of a group of independents, Reitan Kiribati, leading up to the 1991 election. Tentoa was previously a candidate in the 1983 presidential election.Van Trease 1993 57 Timeon was a member of parliament from Tabiteuea.Current Members https://www.parliament.gov.ki/current-members 2024-10-16 Maneaba ni Maungatabu House of Assembly He previously served as Secretary of Cabinet.Macdonald 1998 33 The candidates sought support by making election promises, which were a novelty in presidential elections at the time. Historically, the personalities of candidates were more important than policy proposals.Macdonald 1998 32 Tito's campaign implemented another novel strategy by using video tapes to spread his message, including one that made accusations against Teannaki's government and prompted defamation lawsuits.Macdonald 1998 35 All four supported subsidies for the copra industry.Macdonald 1998 32 They also supported the abolition of certain school fees, particularly those that disproportionately affected citizens of the outer islands.Macdonald 1998 38 Results The presidential election was held on 30 September.Somoza 2001 679 Teburoro Tito won with 51.14% of the vote.Somoza 2001 682 One theory is that Tito's victory can be attributed to his performance in parliamentary debates prior to the motion of no confidence.Macdonald Barrie South Pacific: Governance and Political Process in Kiribati 1996 Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University 0-7315-1996-5 1038-412X 18 Teburoro Tito 10834 Tewareka Tentoa 3886 Roniti Teiwaki 3383 Peter Taberannang Timeon 3080 SomozaSomoza 2001 682 Aftermath Tito took office on 1 October.Somoza 2001 675 His election ended the NPP's control of the government for the first time since the nation's independence and shifted government policy from austerity to increased spending.Macdonald 1998 40–41 A new defamation case was filed on 28 October by Taomati Iuta, who had been Teannaki's vice president, but it was postponed while Teannaki's case was pending.James 2002 The second High Court action Teannaki challenged the election results on 31 October and asked that they be voided, alleging that Tito had engaged in corrupt practices during the campaign. Chief Justice Richard Lussick heard the case the following year. He determined that the only allegation with merit was that Tito had offered tobacco to potential voters, but that this was a social custom that did not amount to corruption. Teannaki was ordered to pay approximately $32,000 for solicitor's fees and the costs of transporting witnesses.James 2002 The election petition Various legal challenges—and the infrequent meetings of the Court of Appeals to address them—meant that Teannaki's defamation case was not heard by the High Court until 29 September 2000. Chief Justice Robin Millhouse felt that he had a conflict of interest in a ruling involving the president, so Australian judge John Toohey was selected as a neutral party to hear the case. Three days into the hearing, Teannaki withdrew his claim and was ordered to pay Tito's legal fees.James 2002 The Hearing of the Defamation Claim Iuta's case was then raised, but it was dismissed when Iuta did not provide securities for legal costs.James 2002 Epilogue Tito was reelected in the 1998 and 2003 presidential elections. He was then removed by a motion of no confidence in March 2003 and succeeded by Anote Tong.Edge Peter Corrin Jennifer de Than Claire The Appointment and Removal of the Head of Government of the Kiribati Republic 2019 5 Oxford Brookes University 10.24384/zw43-2s19 free Notes References James David R. 2002 Kiribati Politics and Defamation: The Case of Teatao Teannaki v Teburoro Tito, 1994 to 2000 http://paclii.org/journals/fJSPL/vol06/1.shtml Journal of South Pacific Law 6 2 1–24 University of the South Pacific 1684-5307 Macdonald Barrie https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/zh/314371468753367994/pdf/multi-page.pdf Pacific Islands Stakeholder Participation in Development: Kiribati 1998 World Bank 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 https://books.google.com/books?id=7rg-swcHq9QC Atoll Politics: The Republic of Kiribati 1993 Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies 978-0-9583300-0-8 Van Trease Howard Kiribati President Category:Presidential elections in Kiribati Category:Election and referendum articles with incomplete results