Kiribati election: New candidate tells why voters should back her

Te Mauri, Te Raoi, and Te Tabomoa - health, peace, and prosperity for i-Kiribati people are the reasons Ruth Cross Kwansing is running for a seat in parliament, the House of Assembly.

The 45-year-old Independent candidate is among 18 women contesting the national election out of a field of 114 contenders.

Kwansing, a business consultant and climate advocate, says this is her first time in politics and it's been nerve-wracking, to say the least.

"I haven't been able to relax at all. I haven't been able to sleep," she told Pacific Mornings' William Terite.

Watch Ruth Cross Kwansing's full interview below.

The first round of voting was held last Wednesday and candidates who received more than 50 per cent of the votes were declared winners.

Kwansing finished second, behind Birimaka Tekenene, out of a record 22 candidates in the battle for the biggest constituency in the country, South Tarawa.

She received just over 1000 votes and made it to the second round of voting on Monday to determine who forms the government.

She said her campaign was based on three concepts, "three blessings from our forefathers - Te Mauri, Te Raoi, and Te Tabomoa, which means health, peace, and prosperity".

"I fared remarkably well for the first time entering into this arena. I ended up coming second in the first round, and that includes all the incumbents from the government.

"I think seven candidates received just over 1000 votes. I'm still not confident, no I don't know if anyone ever is coming into this because anything can happen.

i-Kiribati gather in the capital Tarawa as the national election gets underway. Photo/Rimon Rimon

"You've seen everyone else that's dropped off. All those votes are going to be reallocated I guess today. It's all very positive and I'm getting a huge amount of support.

"If you look at social media, there's a lot of encouragement. But I'm still not confident even as someone who's coming second, I just think, well, it can still go anyone's way."

In an election that could hold profound implications, the i-Kiribati people have faced a turbulent period of strained relations with Pacific neighbours, tensions with traditional allies, and a continuing constitutional crisis.

Local investigative journalist Rimon Rimon said many significant issues would influence voters in this election.

Rimon also told Terite that these issues included the soaring cost of living, healthcare, welfare benefits, and climate change, among other things.

While there is optimism in the air, it's the state of the economy that's on voters' minds, he said.

Electoral officials counting the votes. Photo/supplied

Kiribati is located some 4700km north of New Zealand with a population of just over 130,000.

The low-lying Micronesian atoll is one of the most vulnerable islands to the effects of the climate crisis including sea-level rise.

Kwansing said Kiribati faced high prices because imports were shipped to Fiji before arriving in the capital Tarawa.

"Everything that I was hoping to achieve for our constituency and ultimately our country falls under those banners, under those blessings.

"I was also hoping to focus on the health sector and improving the well-being of our people, moving into peace. It's all the things to do with education, making sure that everything's okay with domestic violence, increasing support for economic empowerment, and those sorts of things.

"Under Tabomoa, it's really focusing on self-reliance and being able to uplift the Kiribati people out of poverty so that we can become a little bit more self-sufficient."

This is the second election to be held since Kiribati switched allegiance to China from Taiwan in September 2019.

Team Kwansing hopes their candidate makes it to parliament. Photo/supplied

Earlier, Taiwan had lost six diplomatic allies to Beijing including the Solomon Islands which signed a security pact with the Chinese in 2022.

As incumbent President Taneti Maamau seeks to extend his term in the Office of Te Beretitenti, the presence of China's influence in Kiribati is becoming increasingly evident.

Maamau, who is behind Kiribati's shift in foreign policy from Taipei to Beijing, retained his parliamentary seat in a landslide.

Results posted by the Ministry of Culture and Internal Affairs showed Maamau won his Onotoa seat with about 83 per cent of the vote. Rimon believes the prospect of Maamau's government returning is "quite likely".

The United States and its allies have raised their concerns about Beijing's push in the Indo-Pacific region but with Kiribati, Washington is keeping a very close eye on Tarawa because it is close to the US state of Hawai'i.

Chinese police are seen patrolling the streets of Tarawa, and Rimon said that there was no explanation from the government on what the foreign security personnel were doing in the country.

The full results are expected to be released on Tuesday.

Incumbent President Taneti Maamau has retained his parliamentary seat in Kiribati. Photo/UN - Rick Bajorna