A by-election was held in the Cook Islands constituency of Tengatangi-Areora-Ngatiarua on 18 March 2019. The by-election was called following the defection of sitting MP

Te-Hani Brown Te-Hani Rose Alexandra Brown (born 16 March 1996) is a Cook Islands politician and member of the Cook Islands Parliament. She is an independent. Career Te-Hani Brown was born in 1996 in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. Brown is the daughter of MP Rose ...

from the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

in January in order to support the government of

Henry Puna Henry Tuakeu Puna (born 29 July 1949) is a Cook Islands politician, and the current secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum. He was Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from November 2010 to October 2020. Since 2006 he has been leader of th ...

, which triggered a by-election under election law. Brown ran as an independent with the support of the

Cook Islands Party The Cook Islands Party is a nationalist political party in the Cook Islands. It was the first political party founded in the Cook Islands, and one of the two major parties of the islands' politics since 1965. From 1999 until 2005 it sometimes ...

against

Nandi Glassie Nandi Tuaine Glassie (21 May 1951 – 4 September 2020) was a Cook Islands politician who served as a Cabinet Minister. He was a member of the Cook Islands Party. Glassie was born in Atiu, and educated at Atiu Primary School, Tereora College, ...

, whom Brown had beaten in the

2018 Cook Islands general election General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 14 June 2018 to elect the 24 members of the 15th Cook Islands Parliament. The nationalist, Cook Islands Party, led by the Prime Minister, Henry Puna, attempted to win a third consecutive term in ...

Results

Aftermath

Although Brown retained her seat, Glassie filed a petition against her victory. He alleged that she had effectively bribed voters by covering the charge of a private aircraft to carry voters to vote on

Atiu Atiu, also known as Enuamanu (meaning ''land of the birds''), is an island of the Cook Islands archipelago, lying in the central-southern Pacific Ocean. Part of the Nga-pu-Toru, it is northeast of Rarotonga. The island's population has dropped b ...

; Brown maintained that this did not constitute an offence. Brown resigned in April 2019 during the process of the petition through the courts and although Glassie was allowed to challenge the election result, this was reversed on appeal. Brown's seat was declared vacant in September 2019, triggering another by-election.

References

By-elections in the Cook Islands Tengatangi-Areora-Ngatiarua by-election Tengatangi-Areora-Ngatiarua by-election March 2019 events in Oceania {{CookIslands-stub