General elections were held in Palau on 4 November 2008 to elect the President and members of the

National Congress ''National Congress'' is a term used in the names of various political parties and legislatures . Political parties *Ethiopia: Oromo National Congress *Guyana: People's National Congress (Guyana) *India: Indian National Congress *Iraq: Iraqi Nati ...

. The presidential election was won by Johnson Toribiong. Incumbent President Tommy Remengesau was ineligible to run because he had served the maximum two consecutive terms allowed and announced that he would run for a seat in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. This was the first election in Palau in which presidential candidates ran with a declared vice-presidential candidates. In previous elections, the President and Vice-Presidents had been elected separately, and the winners of those elections served as a "national leadership team".

Presidential candidates

Primary elections were held on 23 September, with two candidates progressing to the general election in November. Four candidates registered for the primary elections: * Elias Camsek Chin – The incumbent Vice-President was seeking a promotion to the Palauan presidency. His running mate was Senator

Alan R. Seid Alan Rechuldak Seid (born June 9, 1957) is a Palauan businessman and politician of partially American Jewish origin. He was elected into House of Delegates of Palau from 1989 until 2000. He along with Chen Ding-nan agreed to build the Palasia H ...

. * Johnson Toribiong – He is the current Ambassador to the Republic of China (Taiwan), and he was running with Delegate Kerai Mariur. * Surangel S. Whipps – He is the President of the

and his running mate was Billy Kuartei, the

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

for President Remengesau. * Joshua Koshiba – He is a Senator and his running mate was Governor of Peleliu Jackson Ngiraingas.

Campaign

All four presidential candidates and their running mates held rallies throughout Palau. Campaigning also took place in overseas Palauan communities in the mainland United States, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. A total of 43 candidates ran for the thirteen seats in the Senate, while 44 candidates contested the sixteen seats in the House of Delegates. A record ten women were competing for seats in the Senate and House of Delegates, with seven women running for the at large Senate race.

Results

President

Elias Chin and Johnson Toribiong were the top two vote-getters in the primary elections. Chin and Toribiong then faced each other in the general election. In early, preliminary results Toribiong held a 130-vote lead over Chin, with 1,629 votes to Chin's 1,499. Toribiong and his running mate, Kerai Mariur, were declared the winner of the election on 7 November. It was reported that Toribiong had received a concession phone call from Vice-President Chin.

Senate

Surangel Whipps, Jr. has made history by becoming the first Senator to win by write-in and he also led all Senators with highest percentage (65.2%) of votes since his father achieved 73.5%.

Elected members

Surangel Whipps Jr. Surangel S. Whipps Jr. (born 9 August 1968) is a Palauan businessman and politician, who has served as the president of Palau since 2021. He served as senator from 2008 to 2016. He is from Ngatpang state, Republic of Palau. Whipps assumed office a ...

(6,461) #Raynold "Arnold" Oilouch (6,073) #Mlib Tmetuchel (5,360) #Joel Toribiong (5,086) #

Katharine Kesolei Katharine Kesolei (1942 - 13 October 2015) was an anthropologist and Senator from Palau. Kesolei was born in the state of Ngchesar, on Babeldaob island. In 1960, Kesolei was involved with founding the Micronesian Girls Association. She was also ...

(4,947) #Mark U. Rudimch (4,891) #Hokkons Baules (4,437) #Adalbert Eledui (3,934) #

Regina Mesebeluu Regina Mesebeluu is a Palauan who was a senator in the Palau National Congress (''Olbiil era Kelulau''), between 2008 and 2012. Education and teaching career Regina Kyota Mesebeluu married Augustine Mesebeluu, who was a member of the House of ...

(3,731) #Alfonso N. Diaz (3,603) #Tommy E. Remengesau Jr. (3,579) #Regis Akitaya (3,144) #Paul Ueki (3,044)

House of Delegates

Elected members

References

External links

Pacific Magazine: Record Number Of Women Seek Palau Senate SeatsPacific Magazine: Johnson Toribiong Wins Palau Presidential Race
{{Palauan elections Palau 2008 in Palau category:Election and referendum articles with incomplete results Elections in Palau Non-partisan elections Palau National Congress Presidential elections in Palau