1999 Scores

Status: Free
Freedom Rating: 1.0
Civil Liberties: 1
Political Rights: 1

Overview

In April 1999, parliament elected Ionatana Ionatana, a former education minister, as the new prime minister to replace Bikenibeu Paeniu. Paeniu was ousted by his own cabinet for allegations of misconduct in his personal life and for failing to complete government programs he had promised when he came to office in March 1998.

Tuvalu, formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a small, predominantly Polynesian country, consisting of nine atolls stretching over 500,000 miles of the western Pacific Ocean. The islands were proclaimed a British protectorate with the Gilbert Islands (now independent Kiribati) in 1892 and were formally annexed by Britain in the years between 1915 and 1916, when the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony was established. The Ellice and Gilbert Islands separated in October 1975, and the former was renamed Tuvalu. The country became an independent member of the British Commonwealth in 1978. In Tuvalu's first post-independence general election in September 1971, Dr. Tomasi Puapua was elected as prime minister.

Following the September 1973 elections, parliament was deadlocked between two candidates for premier after two rounds of voting. Governor-General Sir Toalipi Lauti used his constitutional powers to dissolve this new legislature, and the country held fresh elections in November. In December, parliament elected as prime minister Kamuta Laatasi, a former general manager of BP (British Petroleum) Oil in Tuvalu.

Laatasi lost a vote of confidence on December 17, 1996, and on December 23, parliament elected Bikenibeu Paeniu prime minister. After the country's last general election in March 1998, Paeniu was elected by the 12-member parliament to another term as prime minister. Some citizens have argued that ending the country's link to the monarchy and adopting republic status could reduce instability in the tiny parliament.

The primarily subsistence economy consists mainly of coconuts, taro, and fishing. Much of the country's revenue comes from the sale of stamps and coins, as well as from remittances by some 1,500 Tuvalu citizens working overseas, mostly as merchant seamen or phosphate miners on Nauru and Kiribati. Interest from the Tuvalu Trust Fund, established in 1987 by major aid donors, covers one-fourth of the annual budget. Until recently, an estimated ten percent of the country's budget came from the controversial practice of leasing unused telephone numbers to international providers of sex telephone lines. As a low-lying island state, the country is concerned about the effects of global climate change. Tuvalu is one of 16 countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The treaty, with 84 signatories to date, urges national actions and international cooperation to control and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Citizens of Tuvalu can change their government democratically. The 1978 constitution vests executive power in a prime minister and a cabinet of up to four ministers. The 12-member parliament, Fale I Fono, is directly elected for a four-year term. The prime minister appoints and can dismiss the governor-general, a Tuvalu citizen who represents the Queen of England, who is head of state, for a four-year term. The governor-general appoints the cabinet members and can name a chief executive or dissolve parliament if its members cannot agree on a premier. Each of the country's nine islands is administered by directly elected six-person councils, which are influenced by village-based hereditary elders who wield considerable traditional authority. Political parties are legal, but no formal parties have been established. Most elections hinge on village-based allegiances rather than policy issues.

Freedom of speech and of the press is respected. The government broadcasts over Radio Tuvalu and publishes the fortnightly newspaper Tuvalu Echoes in the Tuvalu language and English, and there is a monthly religious newsletter. Although most of the population belongs to the Protestant Church of Tuvalu, all religious faiths practice freely.

The government respects freedom of assembly and association. Workers are free to join independent trade unions, bargain collectively, and stage strikes. Only the Tuvalu Seamen's Union, with about 600 members, has been organized and registered. No strikes have ever occurred, largely because most of the population is engaged outside the wage economy. Civil servants, teachers, and nurses, who total fewer than 1,000 employees, have formed associations, but they do not yet have union status.

The judiciary is independent. Citizens receive fair public trials with procedural safeguards based on English common law and have a right of ultimate appeal under certain circumstances to the Privy Council in London. The small police force is under civilian control.

Citizens are free to travel within the country and abroad. Traditional social restrictions limit employment opportunities for women, though many are securing jobs in education and health care and are becoming more politically active. Violence against women appears to occur rarely.

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.