Baron Divavesi Waqa (; born 31 December 1959) is a

Nauru Nauru ( or ; na, Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru ( na, Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Ki ...

an 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 the May 2003 elections to the Parliament of Nauru, representing the constituency of

Boe BOE, BoE or Boe may refer to: Abbreviations, acronyms or initialisms * Bank of England, the central bank of the United Kingdom * Bank of English, a representative subset of the 4.5 billion words COBUILD corpus * Barrel of oil equivalent, a uni ...

. Under President Ludwig Scotty, he served as Minister of the Interior and of Education; however, he had to leave the post upon Scotty's replacement by René Harris. He kept his seat in Parliament. On 23 April 2004, Waqa and his colleagues

Kieren Keke Kieren Aedogan Ankwong Keke (born 27 June 1971) is a Nauruan politician and medical doctor. He is a member of the Parliament of Nauru and former Minister of Finance and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Background He is currently a leading figure o ...

, David Adeang and Fabian Ribauw participated in protests at the

Nauru International Airport Nauru International Airport is the sole airport in the Republic of Nauru. The airport connects to other island nations, served by Nauru's national airline, Nauru Airlines. History The airstrip was built during the World War II Japanese occup ...

in Yaren; these were meant to show displeasure regarding government policy against

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

asylum-seekers in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and the

Flotilla of Hope The Flotilla of Hope was a voyage by yacht carried out in 2004 by protesters critical of the Australian government's asylum policy. Two boats, the ''Eureka'' and the ''One Off'', sailed to Nauru, a Pacific island nation which is host to Australia ...

, as well as against the deadlock then encountered in Parliament. All four faced up to fourteen years in jail because of their participation in the protest; charges were dropped, however, upon Scotty's re-ascension the following June. Scotty once again appointed Waqa to be Minister of Education. Waqa remained loyal to his Administration during the ministerial crisis which occurred in 2007. Consequently, Waqa was not invited to serve in the subsequent Administration of President Marcus Stephen which later took office. Waqa was elected president in June, defeating former Finance Minister and opposition nominee Roland Kun by a vote of 13 to 5. He was chosen by the government faction after President Dabwido stepped aside to allow for Waqa's election so that government members could remain in power. In January 2014, he survived a

vote of confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

over his deportation of the Australian resident magistrate Peter Law and the cancelling of the visa of the Chief Justice Geoffrey Eames, also an Australian national. The government also sought to draft an emergency rule law with the help of Fijian lawyers. It followed the dismissal of the parliamentary counsel Katy Le Roy and the subsequent resignation of the Solicitor-General Steven Bliim, both of whom were Australian. Home Minister Charmaine Scotty said this was symptomatic of a "system of cronyism" operated by Australian expatriates who he said were in league with the opposition. In

2019 Nauruan parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Nauru on 24 August 2019. President Baron Waqa lost his seat in Boe Constituency, making him ineligible for a third term. Following the elections, Lionel Aingimea was elected President, winning a parliamentary ...

he lost his parliamentary seat and his bid to be re-elected in the office.

Honors and awards

*: **

Order of Brilliant Jade (Taiwan) - ribbon bar

Grand Cordon of the Order of Brilliant Jade (March 2019)

Personal life

Baron Waqa did his B.A. and M.A. from

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

and his LL.B. from University of Guinea. He is married to Louisa Waqa. They have adopted one child together, named Barron Stephenson.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Waqa, Baron 1959 births Government ministers of Nauru Living people Members of the Parliament of Nauru Nauruan composers People from Boe District Presidents of Nauru Foreign Ministers of Nauru 21st-century Nauruan politicians University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Education ministers of Nauru

Political role

Honors and awards

Personal life

See also

References

External links