Tuvalu general election – eight newcomers in Parliament

EIGHT of Tuvalu’s 16-member Parliament are newcomers after the 2024 general election which saw former Prime Minister Kausea Natano ousted.

The country went to the polls on Friday to elect a new 16-member Parliament, with 6000 people registered to cast their votes in eight constituencies in the island nation.

There are no political parties in Tuvalu, which means that all candidates run as independents, and voters will select two lawmakers in each of the eight electorates.

Former Prime Minister Kausea Natano failed to get enough votes to return to Parliament in the Funafuti constituency. Dr Puakena Boreham, the only female candidate in this year’s election, represented Nui in the 2015 and 2019 elections but failed to get the numbers in this election. Two noticeable new MPs are former Governor General Sir Iakoba Italeli Taeia, and Feleti Teo, former Executive Director of the Tuna Commission. The Commissioner of Election, Dr Tufoua Panapa, thanked everyone who took part in the 2024 general election, from his team, the voters and all the volunteers. Simon Kofe told RNZ Pacific before all the votes were tallied, that he was confident that he would get back into Parliament.

“The second hurdle will be negotiating with other MPs to form a coalition to form a government,” he said.

“Given the nature of our system here where everyone comes in as an independent, I think there are a few key issues that might influence the various groupings after the election, one of which as you probably see in the media, there is one politician in particular who has expressed interest in revisiting the relationship with Taiwan and whether or not we should be switching to China.”