YAREN (Pacnews/RNZ Pacific) — Nauru’s Parliament on Monday elected the member from Ubenide, David Adeang, as the Pacific nation’s new president.
The member for Menen, Lionel Aingimea, nominated Adeang while the member from Buada, Bingham Agir nominated Delvin Thoma from the constituency of Aiwo.
A secret ballot was conducted, resulting in a tie with Adeang and Delvin Thoma receiving nine votes each.
The then-incumbent President Russ Kun addressed Parliament, calling on members to work together to resolve the political impasse. He also announced that he would vote for Adeang.
Speaker Marcus Stephen asked if members wanted to take a short break or continue with the vote. Ten members voted to continue while eight wanted a short break.
At the end of the second round of secret ballot, Stephen announced that Adeang received 10 votes while Thoma garnered eight.
The speaker then declared Adeang the new president of the Republic of Nauru.
Adeang is the longest serving member in the current parliament, having launched his political career when he first stood in the 2001 general elections.
He also served as the speaker of Parliament in 2004 and 2008 and held a number of cabinet portfolios including minister assisting the president as well as finance and justice.
He is a long-time finance minister in Nauru and, along with former President Baron Waqa, was accused of receiving kickbacks from a phosphate exporting company.
They have both denied they were involved. An Australian Federal Police investigation into the event was launched in 2015.
The Refugee Action Coalition’s Ian Rintoul told RNZ Pacific that Adeang, was his “preferred choice.”
He said unlike other Nauru presidents, whom he described as “ruthless and corrupt,” Adeang is someone who is a little more sympathetic to the refugee situation.
“I would be hoping that he would be taking a much more critical view of [the Australian government] using Nauru as a detention center than the previous president,” Rintoul said.
But “I don’t really hold any hope that he’s about to close down the tension in the room anytime soon,” he added.
In 2016, Adeang said he understood that a lack of long-term solutions was distressing for refugees on Nauru.
President of Nauru David Adeang
