Presidential elections were held in

Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...

on 13 January 2012,Kiribati elections delayed
Radio Australia, 30 December 2011 following two-round

parliamentary elections 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 ( ...

held in October 2011. Incumbent President

Anote Tong Anote Tong (; born 11 June 1952 in Tabuaeran, Line Islands) is an I-Kiribati politician for the Pillars of Truth party and environmental activist with half Chinese heritage, who served as President of Kiribati, from 2003 to 2016. He won the elect ...

sought re-election to a third four-year term, ending months of speculation about his decision. Tong beat Tetaua Taitai of the United Coalition Party and

Rimeta Beniamina Rimeta Beniamina (born 29 December 1960) is an I-Kiribati politician and a former leader of the defunct United Coalition Party. Beniamina, who is from the island of Nikunau in southern Kiribati, is the son of former Vice President Beniamina Ti ...

of the Maurin Kiribati Party with a little over 42% of the vote.

Background

The elections, initially scheduled for 30 December 2011, were postponed to 13 January 2012 in order to allow citizens of the country to travel to celebrate the New Year.

Electoral system

The president was elected by popular vote from among three or four candidates chosen by MPs, and was limited to three four-year terms under the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

Campaign

The new

House of Assembly of Kiribati The House of Assembly (, ) is the Legislature of Kiribati. Since 2016, it has 45 members, 44 elected for a four-year term in 23 single-seat and multi-seat constituencies and 1 non-elected delegate from the Banaban community on Rabi Island in Fi ...

nominated three candidates for the presidency following the 2011 parliamentary election. *

, incumbent

President of Kiribati The president of Kiribati ( gil, Beretitenti) is the head of state and head of government of Kiribati. Following a general election, by which citizens elect the members of the House of Assembly, members select from their midst "not less than 3 ...

since 2003, member of

Pillars of Truth Pillars of Truth ( gil, Boutokaan te Koaua; BK or BTK) was a political party in Kiribati, until 2020 when it merged with the Kiribati First Party to create the Boutokaan Kiribati Moa Party. The party was created through a split in the Natio ...

* Tetaua Taitai, physician and politician, member of the United Coalition Party *

, former leader of the United Coalition Party and standing on behalf of the Maurin Kiribati Party

Results

Incumbent President Anote Tong was the outright winner and re-elected as president of Kiribati, with an aggregate total of 14,315 votes or 42% of the total vote. President Tong defeated his closest challenger, Tetaui Taitai, by more than 7%, or 2,500 votes. The third challenger, Rimeta Beniamina, only received 7,738 votes. Tong was the leading candidate in 14 out of the 23 constituencies. President Tong's percentage of the vote (42%) was much less than his 2007 re-election, when he received 64% of the

popular vote Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

Voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...

was approximately 68% for the election. This was higher than the 2007 presidential elections, when voter participation was a little over 50%.

References

External links

East West Center: Parliament Nominates 3 Candidates for Kiribati PresidentIslands Business: Open race for the presidency in Kiribati
15 November 2011 {{Kiribati elections Presidential elections in Kiribati

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results