2013 Nauruan parliamentary election

2013 Nauruan parliamentary election

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All 19 seats of Parliament 10 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Baron Waqa Roland Kun Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Leader since 2013 2013 Leader's seat Boe Constituency Buada Constituency Last election 8 9 Seats before 10 8 Seats won 14 5 Seat change 4 3
President before election Sprent Dabwido Nonpartisan Elected President Baron Waqa Nonpartisan

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Parliamentary elections were held in Nauru on 8 June 2013.^[1] After Parliament was dissolved on 1 March,^[2] the elections were set for 6 April.^[3] However, a Supreme Court ruling annulled the dissolution and cancelled the elections.^[4] Parliament was dissolved again on 23 May, approximately one month before the normal end of its mandate, and elections were set for 22 June 2013,^[5] however President Sprent Dabwido declared a state of emergency and brought the election forward to 8 June.^[1] Parliament first sat on June 11 and Fisheries Minister Baron Waqa, the leader of the government forces, was elected president.^[6]

Background[]

In February 2013 a constitutional crisis developed after two cabinet members resigned and a third was sacked by President Sprent Dabwido, leaving just two members in the cabinet, whilst the 18-member Parliament split into three factions.^[7] On 1 March Parliamentary Speaker Ludwig Scotty dissolved Parliament due to unruly behaviour by MPs,^[8] and elections were set for 6 April.

Former President Marcus Stephen, who was one of the cabinet members to leave in February threatened to bring a legal challenge against the dissolution, claiming it had been carried out in an unconstitutional manner as MPs had not been given the chance to challenge the dissolution.^[9] When Stephens and seven other MPs did take the matter to the Supreme Court, it ruled that the adjournment had been carried out unconstitutionally.^[10] However, a government spokesman claimed that the Court had no power to force Scotty to reconvene Parliament.^[11]

In mid-March the Supreme Court ruled that as the dissolution was null and void, the writ issued for elections in April was also null and void.^[4]

Speaker Scotty resigned on 18 April and was replaced by Godfrey Thoma on 25 April. Thoma announced on 16 May that Parliament would be dissolved a week from that date.^[12] Speaker Thoma dissolved Parliament on 23 May and set elections for 22 June.^[5] On 27 May 2013 President Dabwido declared a state of emergency and re-set the election for 8 June 2013.^[1]

Electoral system[]

MPs are elected in eight multi-members constituencies using the Dowdall system, a modified version of the Borda count. Voters rank candidates by preference, with the first preference given a score of 1, the second preference a score of ½, the third preference a score of ⅓ and so on. Voters must rank all candidates on the ballot for it to be valid. The candidates with the highest scores win the seats in a constituency.^[13]

Until this election there had been 18 seats in Parliament with seven two-seat constituencies and one four-seat constituency, but following the June 2010 elections Parliament passed a bill to increase the number of seats to 19 to avoid 9–9 ties in the legislature.^[14] The extra member will be elected in the Meneng Constituency, which previously had two seats.^[15]

A record total of 68 candidates registered for the elections.^[16]

Results[]

Summary of the 8 June 2013 Parliament of Nauru election results

	Seats	Change
supporters of the Government	14	4
opponents of the Government	5	3
Total	19	1

References[]