Yearbook 2019
Nauru. According to
CountryAAH, the parliamentary elections held in August meant a
fresh start by losing about half of its members. Among them
was President Baron Waqa, who has been in office since 2013.
It is the parliament that appoints the head of state among
the 19 members. In the vote following the election, David
Adeang was defeated by Lionel Aingimea, who thus took office
as new president. In the government appointed by Aingimea,
he himself took care of the post of Foreign Minister. All
the other six ministers were newly elected to Parliament.
In May, former president Sprent Dabwido died of cancer,
only 46 years old. It was during Dabwido's time as
president, 2011-13, that the decision to reopen the
Australian refugee camp in Nauru was made, which he later
regretted. Dabwido was one of the leaders of the opposition
group Nauru 19, whose members were brought to trial
following protests outside the parliament building in 2015.
The government continued to pursue the case even after a
judge ordered it to close the case because the accused were
not considered able to get a fair trial.
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