by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

was held in the

Nanumaga Nanumanga or Nanumaga is a reef island and a district of the Oceanian island nation of Tuvalu. It has a surface area of about 3 km² with a population of 491 (2017 Census). History On 9 May 1824 a French government expedition under Captain ...

constituency 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 14 January 2014."New speaker for Tuvalu in the new year?"
, ''

Islands Business ''Islands Business'' is a "multimedia publishing company" established in the 1970s in Suva, Fiji. ABC Radio describes it as an "influential regional publication". With correspondents throughout Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical ...

'', January 2014 It followed the seat being declared vacant because of the ill-health of the incumbent Opposition MP Dr.

Falesa Pitoi Dr. Falesa Pitoi is a Tuvaluan politician. A dentist by profession, he began his career in national politics when he was elected to Parliament in the August 2006 general election as MP for Nanumaga. He then served for a time as Minister for ...

, on health grounds.

Context

Dr. Pitoi, a dentist, had served as one of the two MPs for Nanumaga since 2006, and had been appointed Minister for Education, Youth and Sport in Prime Minister

Willy Telavi Willy Telavi (born 28 January 1954) is a Tuvaluan politician who was Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 2010 to 2013. Telavi was first elected to parliament in 2006 and was re-elected in 2010. He became prime minister on 24 December 2010 and the Tel ...

's government on 24 December 2010. In January 2013, he was taken seriously ill while on an official visit to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. He was hospitalised, and later travelled to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

for further treatment. His prolonged absence from Parliament contributed to the Telavi government losing its parliamentary majority; Pitoi and the rest of Cabinet were voted out of office by Parliament on 2 August. Though still absent from the country, Pitoi was now officially an Opposition MP to the new government led by Prime Minister

Enele Sopoaga Enele Sosene Sopoaga PC (born 10 February 1956) is a Tuvaluan diplomat and politician who was Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 2013 to 2019. Sopoaga was elected to Parliament in the 2010 general election. He served as Deputy Prime Minister and Mi ...

. In December 2013, Governor-General Sir

Iakoba Italeli Sir Iakoba Taeia Italeli is a Tuvaluan politician who was the governor-general of Tuvalu from 16 April 2010, until 22 August 2019, when he resigned to contest in the 2019 general election. He is also a former attorney general of Tuvalu who ...

declared Pitoi's seat vacant in accordance with Section 99 (2) of the Tuvalu Constitution following a medical report on his health; he had now been away from the country for eleven months. Consequently, a by-election was announced to replace him.

Monise Laafai Monise Laafai is a Tuvaluan politician and businessman. He stood for Parliament for the first time at the 2010 general election, and was elected MP for the constituency of Nanumaga. He supported Maatia Toafa's successful bid for the premiersh ...

retained the other Nanumaga seat, for which he had been elected in 2010. The Sopoaga government hoped to win Pitoi's vacant seat from the Opposition, which would grant the government a two thirds majority in Parliament, and enable it in particular to elect a new Speaker, replacing Sir

Kamuta Latasi Sir Kamuta Latasi (born September 4, 1936) is a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu from Funafuti atoll. He was elected to the Parliament of Tuvalu in 1992. Latasi served as the 4th Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 1993 until 1996. ...

, whom Sopoaga accused of being partisan.

Candidates

Three candidates stood in the by-election: former Speaker, former deputy Prime Minister and former MP for Nanumaga

Otinielu Tausi Otinielu Tauteleimalae Tausi is a politician from Tuvalu for the constituency of Nanumanga. He served as the speaker of the Parliament of Tuvalu from 2003 until 2006, then again from March 2014 onward, and has also been the deputy prime minister ...

; Halo Tuavai, also a former Nanumaga MP; and Pai Teatu.

Result and consequences

The by-election for the vacancy in the Nanumaga electorate occurred on 14 January 2014.

was the successful candidate. He did not immediately announce whether he supported the government or opposition, but eventually opted to join Prime Minister

's parliamentary majority, providing the Prime Minister with a two thirds majority in the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. On 4 March 2014, Tausi was elected

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

."Tuvalu’s new speaker"
, ''

'', 4 March 2014

2010 result

References

{{reflist 2014 elections in Oceania 2014 in Tuvalu By-elections to the Parliament of Tuvalu Non-partisan elections