Lotoala Metia (died 21 December 2012"Tuvalu Minister dies in Suva"
, ''

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 ...

'', 24 December 2012) was 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-nor ...

an politician and football player.

Football career

He played for Korogege football club, in forward position. He was selected into the

Tuvalu national football team The Tuvalu national football team is the international football team of Tuvalu. Football in Tuvalu is played at the club and international level. The Tuvalu national team draws players from the Tuvalu A-Division and trains at the Tuvalu Sports ...

for the

1979 South Pacific Games The 1979 South Pacific Games, held at Suva in Fiji from 28 August to 8 September 1979, was the sixth edition of the South Pacific Games. Participating countries Nineteen Pacific nations or territories attended: Sports There were 18 sports cont ...

. Coincidentally, the team also included

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 ...

, who would later sit with him as a fellow Cabinet minister from 2010 to 2012.

Political career

He was first elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

at the 2006 general election, as MP for

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 ...

. He was then appointed Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Industries 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 i ...

Apisai Ielemia Apisai Ielemia (19 August 1955 – 19 November 2018) was a Tuvaluan politician. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 2006 to 2010, and was returned as a member of parliament in the 2010 Tuvaluan general election. He was re-electe ...

's Cabinet. He retained his seat in Parliament in the 2010 general election, but was not selected for Cabinet by new Prime Minister

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, ...

. Three months later, in December, he supported

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 ...

's successful attempt to oust the Toafa government in 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 m ...

. Telavi became Prime Minister, and appointed Metia to his Cabinet, as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

. The following month, in January 2011, a number of his constituents demanded his resignation, reportedly displeased with the fact that he had joined the Telavi government. A peaceful protest march to demand that he step down took place in

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 ...

, resulting in the Telavi government declaring a state of emergency and temporarily prohibiting any gathering of ten or more people. Members of the powerful council of elders or ''Falekaupule'' from his island sought to persuade him to defect to the Opposition and help bring it to power. When this directive was not followed the ''Falekaupule'' ordered Metia to resign as a member of parliament. When the ''Falekaupule'' attempted to enforce these directives through legal action, in ''Nukufetau v Metia'', the

High Court of Tuvalu The High Court of Tuvalu is the superior court of Tuvalu. It has unlimited original jurisdiction to determine the Law of Tuvalu and hears appeals from the lower courts. General jurisdiction of the High Court The High Court of Tuvalu has general ...

determined that the directives of the ''Falekaupule'' should be rejected as the Constitution of Tuvalu was structured around the concept of a parliamentary democracy and that " e of the most fundamental aspects of parliamentary democracy is that, whilst a person is elected to represent the people of the district from which he is elected, he is not bound to act in accordance with the directives of the electorate either individually or as a body". In September 2012 he was taken ill, and spent the following months in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He flew back to Tuvalu to vote in Parliament to approve the budget on 13 December, was admitted to the small country's Intensive Care Unit, then was flown to Fiji on 20 December where he was immediately admitted to the Suva Private Hospital. He died in hospital the following day. The by-election caused by his death would decide the future of the Telavi government, reduced by his death to a parity of seven seats apiece with the Opposition in Parliament. The government had previously survived a by-election in August 2011 caused by the death of Minister for Works

Isaia Italeli Isaia Italeli Taeia (1960s – 19/20 July 2011), more commonly known as Isaia Italeli, was a Tuvaluan politician. He was elected to Parliament as MP for Nui in the September 2010 general election, at which time his elder brother, Sir Ia ...

. The calling of a by-election for

was delayed until the High Court of Tuvalu ordered the Prime Minister to issue a notice of elections five days after the judgment, which was delivered on 29 May 2013. The election was eventually held on 28 June; Opposition candidate

Elisala Pita Elisala Pita OBE (d. 22 August 2016) was a Tuvaluan politician. Pita "had a long and distinguished career with the Fisheries Department" in Tuvalu, "culminating in his being employed as a Fisheries Adviser with the USAID". For the latter position ...

won with more than two-thirds of the vote."Tuvalu’s Opposition waiting to hear from GG"
, ''

'', 1 July 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metia, Lotoala 2012 deaths Year of birth missing Finance Ministers of Tuvalu Tuvaluan politicians Tuvaluan footballers People from Nukufetau Association footballers not categorized by position