'An open game': Election of a Speaker next step in Kiribati poll

With all the MPs elected in Kiribati, the focus now is on the first sitting of Parliament and the election of the Speaker.

The 44 MPs include five women for the first time, four of them among a total of 17 newcomers to the Maneaba ni Maungatabu.

RNZ Pacific's Kiribati correspondent, Rimon Rimon, talks about the next stages of the political process.

(The transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.)

Don Wiseman: Well, Rimon here we are, halfway through this election process. We've got an interesting new parliament. Lots of independents, quite a few from the previous parliament have lost their seats.

Rimon Rimon: I think that's the uniqueness of the Kiribati democracy, especially with the transition period and its election process. It needs to be clear that there are two cycles. The first is the general elections to get people into parliament, so that's one checkbox ticked. It's now on those who have been elected to sort themselves out and not just to form up into parties, but also to identify the best candidate to put forward in the presidential elections.

Which brings us to the second cycle. The second cycle is happening around October. By October, the people again would have to go to the polls to choose the president. And now, in between, we have a meeting on the 13th of September. Basically now, all the elected MPs are making their way to the capital, where they will need first to be sworn in by the Chief Justice. After they get sworn in, the next matter on the agenda is to elect the Speaker. This in the past, was done in a secret ballot. This time it's been changed. It's going to be done in an open ballot, meaning all candidates or all MPs that have just been sworn in, it'll be known which Speaker they'll be voting for. After the Speaker is voted in and takes the helm then that's when the parties will be invited to present their candidates.

DW: Well Rimon, just a few questions. Firstly, is there a Chief Justice?

RR: One has been sworn in earlier this year by the President.

DW: That was a temporary appointment wasn't it?

RR: That was back, as we understand, an interim measure. So, I think after some time the President made that official, and she got sworn in and is now the [permanent] Chief Justice. So that Chief Justice is going to be officiating in all these matters, regardless of what has happened with the judiciary saga back over the past three or four years. At least now we can say that there is a Chief Justice sitting in that High Court or the Kiribati judiciary. The controversy of her appointment and all that is being put aside now, or at least that's what the government wants.

DW: Another issue is, are these MPs all going to get to Tarawa? Because the airline is mostly grounded, isn't it?

RR: Well, [the trouble with] the airline, Air Kiribati, it's not new. I mean, the past term of four years, and even the previous one before that, there's been an outcry for improvement, and it's a challenging job because the fleet is old. The recent announcement from Air Kiribati yesterday [Tuesday], was that they're asking the public's understanding, because their priority now will be put on just getting the MPs to the capital. That's stirred quite a bit of a conversation among the public because a lot of backdated travel and freight that needs to get to wherever they need to be gone. But now they're being told that in the name of getting the democratic process moving on they're asking people for their understanding to allow that the airline just focusses on getting those MPs to the capital.

DW: And the Speaker - is the Speaker always an MP?

RR: He or she could be an MP, but it's usually not. Basically, in the past, it was someone who usually did not get elected from either side, and then just pitch that so you have to lobby both parties for your nomination to be the Speaker. At this moment, we have some ideas, but we don't know who they are. They're all just in the air right now.

DW: Taneti Maamau is coming up to his third term, which is the maximum allowed under the Kiribati constitution. There seems to be a sense that he's likely to get back in but it's all going to depend on what sort of backing he can get from all these newcomers, isn't it?

RR: Indeed, but something that I try to stress to the international media, who really don't understand the process, is that it's quite significant that they sort themselves out now with their parties and the numbers. That's important, but it's not really useful at this stage because it's still uncertain. Everything's going to go back to the people, and the people would decide. So even if Taneti Maamau's party have the majority now that will be useful and makes it easy for him. But the past experience of other governments is that they won with a minority government, and so over time, they started to bring other people across the floor, and then that's how that happened.

It's really, I should say, an open game right now. We can't really say for certain. Of course, the cards may be in his favour, but, we can't pre-empt what the people want. Basically, the dynamics of the general elections are quite different from the dynamics of the presidential election. What the President or whoever the candidate from the opposition is most likely to be, Tessie Lambourne, their performance in the past four years in Parliament and how they conducted themselves in debate will really add to their campaign. People would really now choose, and also, I think it's about calibre and your performance and your popularity over the past four years that will decide.

The people who decide who they might vote for. At this moment, we I can't pre-empt what the people will vote. I think the new members might hold that balance of power, but I think it's a nationwide decision by the people that they will choose, based on the performance of the candidate. They'll have to look back at what how Taneti has performed and the policies and how he conducted himself in Parliament, and I think that will add to the people's decision and say, 'Oh, should we vote for him?' And right now it's uncertain to say who's going to be the main rival. We know we've been talking about Tessie, but she has to go through a process first within her own party to get a nomination through.

DW: So Tessie Lambourne is the opposition candidate, probably, I guess. But there has to be a third candidate, doesn't there?

RR: This is just my own words. I usually call the third candidate a dummy candidate, because that has been really the case in the past, because they are not really running for it. But, you know, they'll get some votes from the people, but not considerable votes. And so, the main two ones are, of course, the two main parties.

But Tessie is being geared up to take that nomination, and it depends how united and how collective the opposition party is in getting her through. As is the nature of politics anything can happen, and surprises are always an element of things like this. We could see someone new or not. I think only time can tell.

DW: A very interesting statement from the Kiribati government in this past week telling diplomats basically to stay away or to not visit Kiribati between now and Christmas because of the election. Why have they done that?

RR: Look, we're still trying to get in touch with government. As you understand, it's not easy sometimes to get answers to calls, especially from the media. But we're in communication with them, trying to get an understanding of this. But I think this all shows that there is a lot of interference with the process that has prompted them to really relook at the borders and people coming in. I can't really say who are the key players here.

I think back in 2020, perhaps, that interference was not as intense as it was, and right now, why are they so confident to close it down. Perhaps to let the process carry out without any foreign intervention. We're still in talks with them, and hopefully we'll get a response from them before the 13th September.

But even the breaking of this news was not done by the government itself, and we heard this from the media. They're trying to now explain that three days after the news was broken, and people are just confused on the ground, even the locals they are confused and they think there is something fishy.

We're seeing comments on social media by some key figures from the party, the ruling party, and they're saying this is for the better for Kiribati, it's going to give a fair process for the people to choose who the president will be without any foreign interference.

DW: Will it apply to diplomats from China?

RR: Like I said, Don, we're still in talks with them. I haven't reached out to the Chinese Embassy in Kiribati, and I'm just working with my government right now and just trying to get their word on that. I've emailed the president's office a number of times, and they say they'll get back to me with an available time.

But, in the meantime, we can just only calculate and perhaps think that there's a lot of interference that it's prompted them to close the borders.