The loneliness of the pro-government backbencher and the precariousness of simple majority rule Tuvalu

Abstract

"In this paper, we analyse the twists and turns of Tuvalu central government politics, particularly since the two elections of 1993, and consider an alternative framework which entails the abandonment of the unhappy institutionalisation of the opposition as a government-in-waiting, the introduction of an eight member executive representing all the islands, and the adoption of a stronger oversight role for the island-based Falekaupule. In the first part of the paper, we outline the institutional and political framework established in Tuvalu at independence, and the way this has developed in the period thereafter. In the second part, we review the succession of governments, why each fell and how each sought to engineer for itself a longer term in office. In the final part, we review the 1997 Falekaupule Act and the operation of local level assemblies, and set out our alternative framework, asking whether this might better fit the local customary framework as well as improving the quality of central government performance. ..." page 2