by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

was held in the Nui constituency in

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 ...

on 24 August 2011. It was triggered by the death of the incumbent, MP

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 Minister for Works, who died quite suddenly in late July while in

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

on government business. Although there are no political parties in Tuvalu, Members of Parliament align themselves with the government or with the Opposition, and Italeli's death had resulted 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 ...

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 government losing its one-seat majority in

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 ...

. The by-election was thus highly important to the government's survival."Tuvalu PM to remain in power"
ABC Radio Australia (audio), 25 August 2011 Nui is a two-seat constituency, and in the 2010 general election it had returned Isaia Italeli and

Taom Tanukale Taom Tanukale is a Tuvaluan politician. He began his career in national politics when he was elected to Parliament in a by-election in May 2005, as MP for Nui, following the death of his predecessor, Amasone Kilei. He joined Prime Minister Ma ...

with 24.6% and 23% of the vote respectively, ahead of three other candidates. For the by-election, only one seat would be provided for, Tanukale retaining the other. There were only two candidates:

Pelenike Isaia Pelenike Tekinene Isaia served in the Parliament of Tuvalu from 2011 to 2015. Before her election as an MP she worked for the Tuvalu Cooperative Society, as its branch manager in Nui. Her career in national politics began when she won the Aug ...

, Italeli's widow, who was the candidate supported by Telavi's government; and

Leneuoti Maatusi Leneuoti Matusi is a Tuvaluan politician and former civil servant who was elected as an Independent MP for the Nui constituency in a 2013 by-election, having previously served as the Secretary of the Nui Falekaupule. Matusi gained 297 votes out ...

, who had stood unsuccessfully during the general election. Pelenike Isaia was elected with a 62-vote majority, by 336 votes to 274. She declared that she hoped to accomplish what her husband had set out to do, and added that she would be supporting Telavi's government. Her election made history, as she became only the second woman ever to sit in Tuvalu's Parliament, following

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 ...

from 1989 to 1997."Women Need Support to Overcome Barriers Entering Parliament"
''Solomon Times'', 11 May 2010

Result

2010 result

References

{{reflist 2011 elections in Oceania 2011 in Tuvalu By-elections to the Parliament of Tuvalu Non-partisan elections