General elections were held in

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northeast ...

on 8 September 1981.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...

, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II'', p829

Campaign

A total of 26 candidates contested the 12 seats. As there were no political parties, all candidates ran as independents. Voter turnout was 85.0%. In

Nanumea Nanumea is the northwesternmost atoll in the Polynesian nation of Tuvalu, a group of nine coral atolls and islands spread over about of the Pacific Ocean just south of the equator and west of the International Date Line. Nanumea is with a popul ...

one candidate, Telavi Faati, called for the island be independent.

Results

Eight of the twelve incumbent MPs retained their seats, with two ministers losing theirs.

Aftermath

Tomasi Puapua Sir Tomasi Puapua (born 10 September 1938) is a political figure who represented Vaitupu in the Parliament of Tuvalu. He attended the Fiji School of Medicine and the Otago University Medical School. He married Riana Puapua. Prime minister He ...

was elected Prime Minister with a 7–5 majority over the group a members of parliament headed by former Prime Minister

Toaripi Lauti Sir Toaripi Lauti (28 November 1928 – 25 May 2014) was a Tuvaluan politician who served as chief minister of the Colony of Tuvalu (1975–78), as the first prime minister following Tuvalu's independence (1978–1981) and governor-general of T ...

. Puapua appointed a five-member cabinet, keeping the portfolios of foreign affairs and local government for himself.

Henry Naisali Henry Faati Naisali, CMG, AO, OBE (7 December 1928 – 20 October 2004) was a Tuvaluan politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Tuvalu (1985-1989), Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum (1988-1992) and Pro-Chancellor of The ...

became Deputy Prime Minister and

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

, Lale Seluka was appointed Minister for Commerce and Natural Resources, Falaile Pilitati became Minister for Social Services and Solomona Tealofi was appointed Minister for Works and Communications.

References

{{Tuvaluan elections

Elections in Tuvalu

General election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

Non-partisan elections Election and referendum articles with incomplete results