Kiribati election race – overcrowding, social woes overshadow the climate change issue
PRESIDENT Anote Tong is leaving office
next year because the country’s Constitution
restricts presidential terms to
only 12 years, and he has successfully
served those terms.
Unlike all previous presidents, Tong has enjoyed a majority in parliament.
Who will succeed him is a question that has been lurking at the back of everyone’s minds, and often discussed in the media and at informal forums. No one knows
the answer. President Anote Tong may have his own preference but he needs the support of the party.
I don’t think President Tong is going to back his Vice-President, Teima Onorio to be his successor or Tinian Reiher and backbencher, Taberannang Timeon. He may prefer Rimeta Beniamina to be his successor.
President Tong feels that he owes much to Rimeta because it was him who split the Opposition’s votes at the 2013 presidential election, which saw Tong win his last term in office.
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