Sir Kamuta Latasi (born September 4, 1936) is a political figure from the Pacific nation of

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-northea ...

from

Funafuti Funafuti is the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 6,320 people (2017 census), and so it has more people than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with approximately 60% of the population. It consists of a narrow sweep of lan ...

atoll. He was elected to the

Parliament of Tuvalu The Parliament of Tuvalu (called ''Fale i Fono'' in Tuvaluan, or ''Palamene o Tuvalu'') is the unicameral national legislature of Tuvalu. The place at which the parliament sits is called the ''Vaiaku maneapa''. The ''maneapa'' on each island is ...

in 1992. Latasi served as the 4th

Prime Minister of Tuvalu The prime minister of Tuvalu is the head of government of Tuvalu. According to Tuvalu's constitution, the prime minister must always be a member of the parliament, and is elected by parliament in a secret ballot. Because there are no political ...

from 1993 until 1996. He has served as the Speaker of parliament from 2006 to September 2010 and again from December 2010 to March 2014."Tuvalu’s new speaker"
, ''

Islands Business ''Islands Business'' is a "multimedia publishing company" established in the 1970s in Suva, Fiji. ABC Radio describes it as an "influential regional publication". With correspondents throughout Oceania, it describes itself as the "premier publis ...

'', 4 March 2014

Prime Minister of Tuvalu

The general election held on 25 November 1993 resulted in the members being evenly split in their support of the incumbent prime minister

Bikenibeu Paeniu Bikenibeu Paeniu, PC (born 10 May 1956) is a politician from Tuvalu. He represented the constituency of Nukulaelae in the Parliament of Tuvalu. He has served twice as the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, and now serving as Tuvalu ambassador to Taiwan s ...

and the former prime minister

Tomasi Puapua Sir Tomasi Puapua (born 10 September 1938) is a political figure who represented Vaitupu in the Parliament of Tuvalu. He attended the Fiji School of Medicine and the Otago University Medical School. He married Riana Puapua. Prime minister ...

. As a consequence, the governor-general dissolved the parliament on 22 September and a further election took place on 25 November 1993. The subsequent parliament elected Kamuta Latasi as prime minister on 10 December 1993, with a 7:5 majority over the group a members of parliament headed by former prime minister Bikenibeu Paeniu. Kamuta Latasi was the prime minister until 24 December 1996. As the result of the vote on 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 ...

Kamuta Latasi resigned and Bikenibeu Paeniu was elected as prime minister for the second time. In the general election of 26 March 1998 Latasi lost his seat. While many Tuvaluan politicians tend to avoid organising themselves along partisan lines, Latasi is noted for his

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

leanings, together with former prime minister, the late

Ionatana Ionatana Ionatana Ionatana, CVO OBE CPM (5 November 1938 – 8 December 2000), was a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu. He represented the constituency of Funafuti in the Parliament of Tuvalu. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Tuvalu f ...

Flag issue

One notable issue during the premiership of Latasi was the question of the design of the national

flag of Tuvalu The current flag of Tuvalu was instated when the country became independent in 1978, after the separation from the Gilbert and Ellice Islands in 1976. Features Like many former and current British dependencies, the Tuvaluan flag is a blue ensi ...

, which included a British

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

, reduced in size. In a manner which some Tuvaluans regarded as arbitrary, Latasi changed the flag to another design which omitted the Union Jack. Supporters of Latasi held that this measure symbolically distanced Tuvalu from the colonial period. This change, however, proved to be short-lived, since Latasi's successor (

) implemented a reversion to the former design.

Personal background

Sir Kamuta Latasi is a landowner and long-time politician. His wife,

Naama Maheu Latasi Naama Maheu Latasi, Lady Latasi, OBE (died 16 March 2012) was a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu. She stood for election in the constituency of Nanumea in 1989 and was elected to the Parliament of Tuvalu. Lady Latasi served as ...

, was also a member of the

from 1989 to 1997."Women Need Support to Overcome Barriers Entering Parliament"
''Solomon Times'', 11 May 2010 She died on 16 March 2012.

Speaker of the Parliament of Tuvalu

From 2006 to 2010, Latasi was the Speaker of parliament. He was re-elected to parliament by his constituency of

in the 2010 general election. Latasi was not the speaker during the short term of the government of

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 ...

. On 25 December 2010

Willy Telavi Willy Telavi (born 28 January 1954) is a Tuvaluan politician who was Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 2010 to 2013. Telavi was first elected to parliament in 2006 and was re-elected in 2010. He became prime minister on 24 December 2010 and the Te ...

was elected prime minister with an (8:7) majority over

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 ...

. Latasi was appointed Speaker. Prime minister Telavi lost his majority as the result of the death of

Lotoala Metia Lotoala Metia (died 21 December 2012

. prime minister

delayed calling a by-election following the death of the member from

Nukufetau Nukufetau is an atoll that is part of the nation of Tuvalu. The atoll was claimed by the US under the Guano Islands Act some time in the 19th century and was ceded in a treaty of friendship concluded in 1979 and coming into force in 1983. It has ...

until the opposition took legal action, which resulted in the High Court ordering the prime minister to issue a notice to hold the by-election. The

2013 Nukufetau by-election A by-election was held in the Nukufetau constituency in Tuvalu on 28 June 2013.

was won by the opposition candidate. On 30 July 2013, during the attempts of the opposition to present a no-confidence motion in the government of

, Latasi refused to allow a debate on the motion. The

Tuvaluan constitutional crisis The Tuvaluan constitutional crisis was a political dispute in Tuvalu between the government, led by Prime Minister Willy Telavi, and the opposition, led by Enele Sopoaga, that was precipitated by the death of the Minister of Finance, Lotoala Meti ...

continued until the governor-general

Iakoba Italeli Sir Iakoba Taeia Italeli is a Tuvaluan politician who was the governor-general of Tuvalu from 16 April 2010, until 22 August 2019, when he resigned to contest in the 2019 general election. He is also a former attorney general of Tuvalu who ...

then proceeded to exercise his

reserve powers Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US v ...

to order Mr Telavi's removal and appoint

as interim prime minister. The governor-general also ordered that parliament sit on Friday 2 August to allow a vote of no-confidence in Mr Telavi and his government. Again on 2 August 2013 Willy Tevali faced a motion of no confidence, the voting was eight for the motion, four against and one abstention and Kamuta Latasi abstained for voting on the motion. On 4 March 2014 Latasi was replaced as Speaker by Otinielu Tausi, with Prime Minister

stating that the government needed a Speaker who shared its general viewpoints. He thenceforth sat on the Opposition benches.

Knighthood

Latasi was made a knight of the

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

in the

2007 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2007 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 17 June 2007, to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2007.Antigua & Barbuda list: The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and ...

. He was given his insignia in January 2008.

Acting Governor-General

In 2010 Latasi was appointed acting

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

between the terms of Sir Filoimea Telito and Sir

2015 general election

Sir Kamuta Latasi and

Kausea Natano Kausea Natano (born 5 July 1957) is a Tuvaluan politician who is serving as Prime Minister of Tuvalu, in office since 19 September 2019. He is also serving as an MP for Funafuti, having also served as the country's deputy prime minister and mi ...

were re-elected in the 2015 general election. Sir Kamuta Latasi resigned as MP on 17 October 2018.

References

External links

"Court Circular"
''The Times'', 3 January 2008 (announcing Sir Kamuta's knighthood and accession to the Privy Council) {{DEFAULTSORT:Latasi, Kamuta 1936 births Living people People from Funafuti Speakers of the Parliament of Tuvalu Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Officers of the Order of the British Empire Prime Ministers of Tuvalu Date of birth missing (living people) Tuvaluan republicans