Lawmakers in Tuvalu are to elect a new prime minister on Monday, the election commissioner said, a month after the Pacific nation went to the polls.
Stormy weather and rough seas had prevented several lawmakers from traveling by boat from outer islands to the capital, Funafuti, to select a new leader.
All 16 elected members, who won their seats in elections last month, have now reached the capital after a boat bringing the final few arrived on Thursday.
Photo: AFP
Election commissioner Tufoua Panapa said that nominations would close tomorrow, with the vote to elect the new prime minister to be held on Monday at 11am.
“The governor-general will release the result straight after the election,” Panapa said.
Tuvalu’s Jan. 26 vote was closely watched in Beijing, Washington and Taipei amid rumors a new government could switch diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China.
Until a new government is formed, pro-Taiwan Tuvaluan Prime Minister Kausea Natano, who lost his seat in the Funafuti constituency, remains in charge in a caretaker role.
After a new prime minister is chosen, there is speculation that Tuvalu — one of just 12 UN member states that formally recognize Taiwan — could flip its allegiance to China.
Neighboring Nauru severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of China last month, feeding rumors Tuvalu could follow.
Beijing has already poached some of Taiwan’s Pacific allies, convincing the Solomon Islands and Kiribati to switch recognition in 2019, before Nauru did the same.
Ahead of the election, Tuvaluan Minister of Finance Seve Paeniu floated the idea of the nation reviewing its diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
With no formal political parties, the process of selecting a prime minister and potentially changing government had already been expected to be slow, before bad weather forced further delays.
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