Toke Talagi

Toke Talagi
Premier of Niue
Assumed office
19 June 2008
Governor General Jerry Mateparae
Patsy Reddy (Designate)
Preceded by Young Vivian
Personal details
Political party Independent
Spouse(s) Emeline Fifitaloa

Toke Tufukia Talagi[1] is the current premier of Niue. He was elected premier by the Niue Assembly on 19 June 2008, defeating the standing premier Young Vivian by fourteen votes to five, with one abstaining.[2][3]

It was under Talagi's premiership that Niue became, in November 2011, a founding member of the Polynesian Leaders Group, a regional grouping intended to cooperate on a variety of issues including culture and language, education, responses to climate change, and trade and investment.[4][5][6]

Talagi has been, at various times, deputy prime minister,[7] minister of Finance,[8] and minister of Education.[9] Elected to the national Assembly in 2002, he obtained the same number of votes as an opponent in the 2005 election, and retained his seat only thanks to a favourable random draw to designate a winner.[8] He was re-elected easily in 2008.[10]

There are no political parties in Niue; Talagi is therefore an independent.

Talagi is also president of the Niue Rugby Union.[11]

In 2008, he was elected chair of the Pacific Islands Forum.[12] In May 2009, Talagi co-chaired the 5th Pacific Alliance Leaders Meeting (PALM) with then Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso in Hokkaido.[13]

References

Political offices
Preceded by
Young Vivian
Premier of Niue
2008–present
Incumbent
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 4/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.