Vete Sakaio

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

is a

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northeast ...

an politician. A

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

by trade, he was described in 2008 as a "leader of the community" on his home island of Niutao. He is also the Vice President of the Tuvalu Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee, and a leading member of the Tuvalu Amateur Sports Association. In 2010, he went into politics, standing for

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. He was elected MP for Niutao. Following the election, he was appointed as Minister for Works and Natural Resources in

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Maatia Toafa Maatia Toafa OBE (born 1 May 1954) is a Tuvaluan politician, representing Nanumea, who served two non-consecutive terms as Prime Minister of Tuvalu. He first served as Prime Minister from 2004 to 2006, from the resignation of his predecessor, S ...

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

. He lost office just three months later, when Toafa's government was brought down by a

motion of no 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 ...

. Vete Sakaio was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Public Utilities on 5 August 2013 following

Enele Sopoaga Enele Sosene Sopoaga PC (born 10 February 1956) is a Tuvaluan diplomat and politician who was Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 2013 to 2019. Sopoaga was elected to Parliament in the 2010 general election. He served as Deputy Prime Minister and Mi ...

becoming prime minister. On 28 September 2013, Vete Sakaio concluded his speech to the General Debate of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly with an appeal to the world, "please save Tuvalu against climate change. Save Tuvalu in order to save yourself, the world". In the 2015 New Year Honours, Sakaio was made an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

. Vete Sakaio was not re-elected in the

2015 Tuvaluan general election General elections were held in Tuvalu on 31 March 2015. The state of emergency created by Cyclone Pam resulted in the election being delayed twice. The election was originally scheduled for 19 March, then after Cyclone Pam caused damage to the isl ...

External links

(28 Sep 2013) Address by His Excellency Vete Palakua Sakaio, Deputy Prime Minister of Tuvalu at the general debate of the 68th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations

References

Deputy Prime Ministers of Tuvalu Government ministers of Tuvalu Members of the Parliament of Tuvalu Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Niutao Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Tuvalu-politician-stub