Parliamentary elections were held in Nauru on 24 September 2022 to elect all 19 members of parliament. All candidates were elected on a non-partisan basis. Following the election,

Russ Kun Russ Joseph Kun (born 8 September 1975) is a Nauruan politician who has been president of Nauru since being elected in the 2022 presidential election. He has served as a member of parliament for Ubenide since 2013. Biography Kun was born on ...

, a member of parliament for

Ubenide Ubenide is a constituency of Nauru made up of four districts: Baitsi, Denigomodu, Nibok, and Uaboe. It covers an area of 4.5 km² (1.73 mi²), making it the second largest constituency by area, and is the most populous constituency with a popu ...

, was elected president by parliament.

Background

In the

2019 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2019. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has a calendar of upcoming elections around the world, and the National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections in coun ...

, nearly half of the Parliament members lost their seats, including incumbent President

Baron Waqa Baron Divavesi Waqa (; born 31 December 1959) is a Nauruan politician who was the 14th President of Nauru from 11 June 2013 until 27 August 2019. He previously served as Minister of Education from 2004 to 2007. Political role Waqa was elected in ...

Justice minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

David Adeang David Waiau Adeang (born 24 November 1969) is a Nauruan politician, former Speaker of the Parliament of Nauru, and Nauru's Minister of Finance and Justice, as well as the Minister Assisting the President of Nauru. He is a founding member of the ...

, Waqa's deputy, retained his seat. Adeang was a candidate in the following

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 ...

; he lost to

Lionel Aingimea Lionel Rouwen Aingimea (born 2 September 1965) is a Nauruan lawyer and politician. He served as the fifteenth president of Nauru from 2019 to 2022. He currently serves as Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Nauru. Early life Aingimea was born i ...

, who had been an assistant minister. The Aingimea government implemented some electoral changes. Potential candidates in regularly scheduled general elections were now required to register their intention 270 days before the end of the parliamentary term. These declared candidates would then file nominations during the nomination period. To address public concerns about granting citizenship to foreigners, the government held a constitutional referendum in 2021 which disqualified naturalised citizens and their descendants from running for Parliament.Parliament Jan–Feb 2022
Nauru Bulletin, 4 March 2022 Aingimea also pushed for strong stances in Pacific affairs. Nauru supported the

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...

boycott of the Pacific Islands Forum in 2021, which aimed for a Micronesian secretary-general; it also offered to temporarily host a Micronesia secretariat. When

University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the go ...

Vice-Chancellor Pal Ahluwalia was deported from Fiji after investigating university finances, Nauru hosted Ahluwalia at its campus for the term. Aingimea also supported the USP Council's decision to renew Ahluwalia's contract, and commissioned the auditing firm BDO to further pursue the investigation.

Electoral system

The 19 members of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

are elected from eight multi-member constituencies using the Dowdall system, a version of

ranked voting The term ranked voting (also known as preferential voting or ranked choice voting) refers to any voting system in which voters rank their candidates (or options) in a sequence of first or second (or third, etc.) on their respective ballots. Ra ...

; voters rank candidates, with the votes counted as a fraction of one divided by the ranking number (e.g. a candidate ranked second will be scored as ); the candidates with the highest total are elected. There are no political parties, so all candidates run as independents. Informal groups do form in Parliament, but membership is fluid. Parliament is elected for a three-year term, but can be dissolved earlier. The government, which comprises the President and the Cabinet, must retain the support of a majority in Parliament. All citizens aged 20 and older are permitted to cast their ballot; once an individual reaches voting age, they are automatically added to the electoral roll. Voting is compulsory in Nauru; individuals who fail to vote without sufficient reasoning are required to pay a fine. Nauruans who provide proof of illness, are in hospital or are not present in the country on election day are excused. However, Nauruans overseas on the polling day have the option to engage in proxy voting, where an individual assigns someone in Nauru to vote on their behalf. The electoral commission provides a mobile voting service for voters hospitalised or unable to go to polling stations due to incapacity, involving polling staff travelling to these individuals to ensure they can cast their ballot.

Conduct

On 29 August,

Speaker of Parliament The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

Marcus Stephen Marcus Ajemada Stephen (born 1 October 1969) is a Nauruan politician and former sportsperson who previously was a member of the Cabinet of Nauru, and who served as President of Nauru from December 2007 to November 2011. The son of Nauruan par ...

issued a

writ of election A writ of election is a writ issued ordering the holding of an election. In Commonwealth countries writs are the usual mechanism by which general elections are called and are issued by the head of state or their representative. In the United ...

for 24 September. 8,054 eligible voters registered for this election. The electoral roll was opened between 1 and 3 September for verification. Nominations were accepted between 4 and 10 September. 77 candidates were nominated to contest the election. The Pacific Islands Forum sent an

election monitoring Election monitoring involves the observation of an election by one or more independent parties, typically from another country or from a non-governmental organization (NGO). The monitoring parties aim primarily to assess the conduct of an electi ...

team led by Feue Tipu, the High Commissioner of Tuvalu to New Zealand. Early voting commenced on 19 September. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the electoral commission encouraged polling stations to enforce rigorous hygiene measures. On election day, 24 September, the polling concluded at 6 pm local time.

Results

The vote count began after the close of polls, and was completed on Monday, 26 September. The speaker and the twelve government members retained their seats. Out of the six opposition members, two were unseated:

Milton Dube Milton Dube is a Nauruan politician. He took part in the June 2010 parliamentary election, and came first in the Aiwo Constituency, unseating Opposition MP Dantes Tsitsi. It was Dube's first term in Parliament,Tawaki Kam (Meneng). Former presidents

Ludwig Scotty Ludwig Derangadage Scotty (born 20 June 1948) is a Nauruan politician who twice served as President of Nauru and was Speaker of Parliament five times between 2000 and 2016. He served as president from 29 May 2003 to 8 August 2003 and again from ...

and

ran for election, but did not enter Parliament.

Aiwo

Anabar

Anetan

Boe

Buada

Meneng

Ubenide

Yaren

Presidential election

Following the elections, the newly elected MPs elected the president, who was required by the constitution be a member of parliament. The first session of the 24th parliament was held on 28 September.

, a representative for the Ubenide constituency, was the only candidate for president. Former president

won re-election as speaker of parliament, whilst outgoing president

was elected deputy speaker. Kun and his thirteen-member cabinet were sworn in a ceremony on 29 September. There were six other ministers besides Kun himself, and seven deputy ministers (which included the two new members). Both heads of resident missions, from Australia 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 ...

, were in attendance. The visiting New Zealand high commissioner met with Kun to offer congratulations, and the non-resident European Union ambassador to the Pacific congratulated him on Twitter.

References

{{Nauruan elections

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

Nauru Elections in Nauru Non-partisan elections Nauru