Kausea Natano

Kausea Natano (born 5 July 1957[1]) 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 minister for communications in former prime minister Willy Telavi's Cabinet.[2]


Kausea Natano

Prime Minister of Tuvalu
Assumed office
19 September 2019
MonarchElizabeth II
Governor GeneralMrs. Teniku Talesi Honolulu (Acting)
Preceded byEnele Sopoaga
Deputy Prime Minister of Tuvalu
In office
24 December 2010  2 August 2013
Prime MinisterWilly Telavi
Preceded byEnele Sopoaga
Succeeded byVete Sakaio
Minister of Public Utilities
In office
24 December 2010  2 August 2013
Prime MinisterWilly Telavi
Preceded byTaukelina Finikaso
Succeeded byVete Sakaio
Member of Parliament
Assumed office
25 July 2002
Preceded byIonatana Ionatana
Teleke Lauti
ConstituencyFunafuti
Personal details
Born1957 (age 6364)
Funafuti
Political partyIndependent

Before entering politics, Natano was director of customs of Tuvalu, and also served as assistant secretary in the ministry of finance and economic planning.[3]

Following the 2019 Tuvaluan general election, on 19 September 2019, the members of parliament elected Natano as prime minister with a 10-6 majority.[4][5][6][7][8]

Political career

Since 2002, Natano has been elected multiple times to the Parliament of Tuvalu.

Before the 2006 election, he had been a member of the opposition, but with the changes in the parliament's membership, he had hopes of forming a new coalition of supporters.[9]

He was one of seven members re-elected in the 2006 election,[10] in which he received 340 votes.[11] He serves as MP for Funafuti, the country's capital, along with Kamuta Latasi, who was also re-elected in 2006.[10] Following the election, he was appointed Minister for Public Utilities and Industries in Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia's Cabinet.

He was re-elected to Parliament in the 2010 general election. He then stood for the premiership, and received seven votes from MPs, thus being narrowly defeated by Maatia Toafa, who received eight.[12] In December 2010, Toafa's government was ousted in a motion of no confidence, and Willy Telavi succeeded to the premiership.[13] Natano was among those who supported Telavi, enabling his accession. Upon appointing his Cabinet on December 24, Telavi appointed Natano as Minister for Communications.[14] He was also appointed Deputy Prime Minister.[15]

Following Prime Minister Telavi's removal by Governor General Sir Iakoba Italeli on 1 August 2013 in the context of a political crisis (Telavi had sought to govern without the support of Parliament), Natano and the rest of Cabinet were voted out of office a day later by Parliament, where the opposition now had a clear majority.[16]

Natano was re-elected in the 2015 general election.

He was re-elected in the 2019 general election.[17]

References

  1. "THE HON KAUSEA NATANO PRIME MINISTER TUVALU". Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  2. "Current Members (including Ministers and Private Members)". The Parliament of Tuvalu. Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  3. "Tuvalu has elected a new Prime Minister - Hon. Kausea Natano". Fiji Sun. 20 September 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  4. Evan Wasuka & Alan Weedon (19 September 2019). "Pacific climate change champion Enele Sopoaga is no longer Tuvalu's PM — so who's next in?". Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  5. "Kausea Natano new PM of Tuvalu; Sopoaga ousted". 19 September 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  6. Colin Packham & Jonathan Barrett (19 September 2019). "Tuvalu changes PM, adds to concerns over backing for Taiwan in Pacific". Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  7. Pareti, Samisoni (16 September 2019). "Natano gets PM nomination". Islands Business. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  8. "New Tuvalu PM will not attend UN Climate Summit in New York". PACNEWS. 18 September 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  9. Tuvalu's new Government to be sworn in on 17 August, Pacific Islands Trade & Investment Commission NZ, 8 August 2008. Accessed 2008-09-25.
  10. Election Results Bring Changes Archived 2008-10-19 at the Wayback Machine, Tuvalu News, 3 August 2006. Accessed 2008-09-25.
  11. ELECTION RESULTS FOR THE FUNAFUTI CONSTITUENCY Archived 2013-03-01 at the Wayback Machine, Tuvalu News, 16 August 2006. Accessed 2008-09-25.
  12. "New Prime Minister for Tuvalu". Australia Network. 2010-09-29. Archived from the original on 2010-09-29. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
  13. "Willie Telavi the new prime minister in Tuvalu". Radio New Zealand. 24 December 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  14. "Island declares emergency rule". The Independent. 15 January 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  15. "Composition du gouvernement des îles Tuvalu", French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, 23 September 2011
  16. "Tuvalu opposition votes out government". RNZ. 2 August 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  17. Tahana, Jamie (10 September 2019). "Tuvalu elections: large turnover for new parliament". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 10 September 2019.

See also

Political offices
Preceded by
Enele Sopoaga
Prime Minister of Tuvalu
2019–present
Incumbent
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.