General Election, 26 January 2024

Tuvalu held elections for its unicameral parliament, the Tuvaluan House of Assembly (Fale I Fono), on 26 January 2024. The 16 members of the House are elected by plurality vote in multi-member constituencies to four-year terms. There are no political parties in Tuvalu; all candidates run as independents. The Prime Minister is elected by the members of parliament (IFES 2024). Tuvalu does not have an election management body. The national elections are administered by the Secretary to Government within the Office of the Prime Minister (ACE 2012). 

In the run-up to the 2024 elections, there was an incident of foreign interference. A Chinese broadcaster attempted to pay media professionals in Tuvalu to publish an opinion piece suggesting that Tuvalu could cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan after the election (Taipei Times 2024).

As the previous Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Kausea Natano, lost his seat (Needham 2024a), a change of power was inevitable (RNZ 2024). On 26 February, a month after the election, Feleti Teo was appointed Prime Minister. As there was no opposing candidate, Feleti Teo was confirmed in office by Governor General Tofiga Vaevalu Falani without a formal vote (McGuirk and Lavalette 2024). The delay in the appointment occurred due to hazardous weather conditions which hindered the newly elected MPs reaching the capital (by ship) for the prime ministerial vote. This situation underscores the significance of climate change as the foremost political concern in the Pacific Island nation (Needham 2024b).

A high voter turnout was reported for the 2024 parliamentary elections, as 6,000 of Tuvalu’s 11,000 population registered to vote (Haxton 2024). However, official turnout figures are not available. There are no female members in the newly constituted parliament. The only female candidate, Dr Puakena Boreham, did not receive sufficient votes to enter parliament (RNZ 2024).