The Parliament of Nauru has 19 members, elected for a three-year term in multi-seat

constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

. The

President of Nauru The president of Nauru is elected by Parliament from among its members, and is both the head of state and the head of government of Nauru. Nauru's unicameral Parliament has 19 members, with an electoral term of 3 years. Political parties only p ...

is elected by the members of the Parliament."About Parliament"
Parliament of Nauru The number of seats was increased to 19 following elections in 2013.
, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved 10 November 2012 The members of the Parliament of Nauru are elected by a

positional voting system Positional voting is a ranked voting electoral system in which the options or candidates receive points based on their rank position on each ballot and the one with the most points overall wins. The lower-ranked preference in any adjacent pair i ...

History

The Parliament of Nauru came into existence with the country's independence on 31 January 1968. The island was previously a

United Nations Trust Territory United Nations trust territories were the successors of the remaining League of Nations mandates and came into being when the League of Nations ceased to exist in 1946. All of the trust territories were administered through the United Nati ...

administered by Australia. The Australian government's ''Nauru Act 1965'' created the Legislative Council for the Territory of Nauru, consisting of 15 members – nine elected members, one '' ex officio'' member (the

Administrator of Nauru This article lists the colonial governors of Nauru, from the establishment of the German colonial presence in 1888 (as part of German New Guinea), through the Japanese occupation during World War II, until the independence of the Australi ...

), and five "official members" nominated by the Administrator. On 22 March 2010, Radio New Zealand International reported that President

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 ...

had dissolved Parliament in readiness for elections on 24 April 2010. The election saw all 18 MPs returned, but by this stage nine of them had formed the Opposition, resulting in a deadlocked Parliament. Another election was held in June 2010 as a result of the continuing deadlock. After weeks of uncertainty, the deadlock was resolved when the Opposition agreed to have one of its own MPs,

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 ...

, elected as

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

. President Stephen then suggested that the number of MPs should be expanded to 19, to prevent future deadlocks."Political standoff ends with speaker's election in Nauru"
ABC Radio Australia, 13 May 2010 In late 2012, Parliament, under the leadership of President Dabwido, acted on this suggestion and passed a law increasing the number of seats to 19 after election in 2013, it is expected to prevent future deadlocks like the one in 2010.

Current MPs

Speaker

The Speaker is the presiding officer of Parliament. The Speaker is an MP elected by the MPs. The Speaker has no vote in no-confidence votes and presidential elections. Following the April 2008 election,

Riddell Akua Michael Riddell Akua (born 26 January 1963) is a political figure from the Pacific nation of the Republic of Nauru. Background Akua has been a member of the Parliament of Nauru since 3 May 2003. From this date on he has also been an important pa ...

was appointed Speaker of the Parliament of Nauru. He replaced

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 ...

."Nauru president moves to ensure political stability"
, ABC Radio Australia, 1 May 2008 Two weeks after the April 2010 election,

Godfrey Thoma Godfrey Awaire Thoma (born 22 January 1957) is a Nauruan politician and police officer. Member of Parliament Thoma started his first term in the parliament after being elected in 1995, ousting Theodore Moses after only three years. He had be ...

was elected Speaker. Due to the political deadlock fresh elections were held in June, after which Parliament continued to be deadlocked until the election of

to the chair in November 2010. Scotty resigned at the end of the 20th Parliament in March 2013.

was elected to replace him. Following the 2013 election, Scotty was re-elected to the speaker's post.

References

Sources

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2013-06-11/baron-waqa-named-as-new-nauru-president/1144022
http://www.naurugov.nr/government-information-office/media-release/honbaron-waqa-elected-president.aspx

External links

* {{coord, 0, 32, 50, S, 166, 55, 00, E, region:NR_type:landmark, display=title Nauru Politics of Nauru Political organisations based in Nauru Yaren District Nauru Nauru 1968 establishments in Nauru