| Parliament name |
Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
24 April 2010 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats in the Parliament following its premature dissolution on 20 March 2010. The elections had previously taken place on 26 April 2008. |
The early elections in April 2010 followed a stand-off between pro-government members of parliament supporting President Marcus Stephen and anti-government members
including the former Speaker
finance and foreign minister
Mr. David Adeang. Both groups held nine seats in the 18-member parliament.
The previous election in April 2008 had also been triggered by a political stalemate in the country of 14
000 inhabitants
which has had 36 governments since it gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1968. In March 2008
President Stephen had endorsed Mr. Adeang as the Speaker in a bid to reduce the number of opposition votes in parliament (as the Speaker only votes in the event of a tie). Mr. Adeang's decision to suspend all nine pro-government members
including President Stephen
triggered early elections in April 2008. In these elections
all nine pro-government members had retained their seats. Three newly elected members subsequently moved over to the government side
giving it 12 of the 18 seats. In late April
parliament elected former Speaker Mr. Riddel Akua as its Speaker. Mr. Stephen was re-elected as the country's President.
Mr. Adeang was suspended from the new parliament in July 2009 for making derogatory statements. Between January and February 2010
three members from the government side joined the opposition
expressing their general dissatisfaction with the government. Consequently
both sides held nine seats each again. In early February
Mr. Adeang was allowed to attend parliamentary sessions after submitting a letter of apology. In late February
President Stephen survived a vote of no-confidence.
On 27 February 2010
the country's first-ever constitutional referendum failed to obtain the required two-thirds majority. Some opposition members
who had voted in favour of the amendments in parliament
campaigned against them in the run-up to the referendum.
Shortly after the referendum
the opposition members brought another no-confidence motion against the President. The Finance Minister
Kieran Keke
accused the opposition of political manoeuvring and constant attempts to defeat the government in order to grab power for selfish reasons.
On 16 March
President Stephen ordered that parliament be dissolved on 20 March
the day when the no-confidence motion was to be debated
on the grounds that the opposition was preventing both the government and the parliament from carrying out their duties properly. Speaker Akua resigned
and was replaced by Mr. Shadlog Bernicke. On 22 March
Acting Speaker Bernicke advised the returning officer to call elections for 24 April 2010
12 months before they were constitutionally due.
In all
86 candidates
including all outgoing members
contested the 2010 elections. Since there are no political parties in Nauru
all candidates stood as independents.
President Stephen urged voters to give him a clear mandate to continue his efforts to rebuild the country. Pro-government members ran on their record. They argued that Nauru's phosphate exports and GDP had increased significantly. Since 2009
electricity has been available 24 hours a day seven days a week for the first time in a decade. The Minister for Commerce
Industry and the Environment
Mr. Frederick Pitcher
pledged to hold another constitutional referendum if the government was returned to office.
Anti-government members argued that those achievements should also be credited to the administration of former president Scotty and Mr. Adeang.
Over 91% of the 5,700 registered voters. The country introduced stringent verification procedures using computers for the first time
resulting in a slight delay in announcement of the polling results.
No major international observers monitored the polls. No violent incidents were reported.
The final results gazetted on 26 April showed that all 18 members in the outgoing legislature had been returned
resulting in yet another political stalemate. No women were elected.
The newly elected parliament held its first session on 27 April but failed to elect a new Speaker. On 13 May
parliament elected Mr. Godfrey Thoma
an opposition member
as its new Speaker at sixth attempt. However
he resigned on 18 May
bringing back the country to political deadlock.
An opposition member, Mr. Dominic Tabuna, changed sides and was elected as new Speaker on 1 June. However, he too resigned three days later. After subsequent parliamentary sessions failed to elect a new Speaker, Acting President Stephen declared a state of emergency and dissolved Parliament in view of fresh elections to be held on 19 June, less than two months after the previous elections.
|
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 24 April 2010 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
5'202
185
5'017 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
18
0
0.00%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
| Source: Parliament (03.05.2010) |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
