Presidential elections were held in

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

on 22 June 2020. Incumbent President Taneti Maamau of the

Tobwaan Kiribati Party The Tobwaan Kiribati Party ( en, Embracing Kiribati Party; TKP) is a political party in Kiribati. History The party was established in January 2016 as a merger of the Maurin Kiribati Party and the United Coalition Party. The two parties had won ...

was re-elected with 59% of the vote.

Campaign

Relations with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

served as the main issue during the election, with Maamau having switched Kiribati's recognition to China from Taiwan and Berina seen as more sympathetic toward Taiwan. The election was seen by many as a critical test for the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

's expansionist foreign policy.

Results

The results were declared on 23 June 2020 by Chief Justice

John Muria Sir Gilbert John Baptist Muria is a Solomon Islands judge and was the first indigenous Solomon Islander to be Chief Justice of the Solomon Islands. Muria was Chief Justice of the Solomon islands from 1992 to 2003. He then sat as a judge on the cou ...

at the Ministry of Justice headquarters in

South Tarawa South Tarawa ( gil, Tarawa Teinainano) is the capital and hub of the Republic of Kiribati and home to more than half of Kiribati's population. The South Tarawa population centre consists of all the small islets from Betio in the west to Bonriki ...

. Maamau won the election with 59% of the vote, receiving a majority in 16 of the 23 constituencies, while Berina finished first in seven constituencies.

References

{{Kiribatian elections

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

Presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

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

Presidential elections in Kiribati