Politics
Nauru Still Without A Government
But MP Marcus Stevens could hold the balance
Nauru, drifting in ever deepening political crisis, was still without a government as Islands Business went to press in late May. A May 5 general election put supporters of the young reformist Nauru First Party in four of parliament's 18 seats.
But two weeks later, parliament split into three factions, MPs had still failed to elect a Speaker from amongst themselves as a constitutional prerequisite for the election of a president.
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One of six newcomers to parliament was Nauru's international weightlifting champion, Marcus Stevens, who probably because of his popularity as a sportsman easily won his seat.
A senior Nauruan administrator told Islands Business it was possible Stevens held the key to breaking the deadlock that blocked the formation of a new government.
With the support of Stevens, a faction of nine veteran MPs led by two former presidents, Rene Harris and Kinza Clodumur, could win a 10/8 controlling position.
"He will probably lean to Rene but not Kinza," Islands Business was told.
"Marcus holds the balance. He is the key factor. How he does it will be interesting. They should not underestimate him."
The weightlifter was being courted also by the Nauru First MPs. These include Dr Kieran Keke and former government lawyer David Adeang, two of the young reformists victimised by the government of former President Rene Harris for outspoken criticism and exposure of years of corruption, inept rule and wild spending on luxuries for the elite that has brought the once wealthy 21-square kilometre country to national insolvency and ruin.
Two weeks after the election, the latest attempt to get a government formed flopped when two MPs on May 16 refused to be elected to the Speaker's chair.
The country was left to flounder on with MP Derog Gioura carrying on as an acting president. The clerk to parliament, Freddy Caine, said that at that time Gioura was not inclined to dissolve parliament to clear the way for another general election.
Rene Harris was forced out of office at the end of 2002. His replacement, Bernard Dowiyogo, died after just a few weeks in office for his sixth term as president.
Nauru's ruin, according to the Nauru First Party something which has cost the loss of more than A$2000 million in lost investments, fraud, corruption and debt, has put the country in the position in which the government often can't pay the civil service or maintain services because of difficulties in paying fuel and other bills.
Successive governments have been forced to sell hundreds of millions of dollars worth of property investments in Australia and the United States to pay debts. There is now almost nothing left of a one multi-billion dollar investment portfolio.
The two latest losses are a big resort hotel in Guam and the Grand Pacific Hotel (GPH) in Suva.
The GPH, one of the most famous hotels in the South Pacific, stood derelict for years because of Nauru's financial inability to proceed with a project to restore and enlarge it.
Under pressure from the Fiji Government, which complained that the state of the building in such a prime location in Suva was a national embarrassment, the Nauruans refused to sell it until May, when a Nauruan Government delegation arrived in Suva and agreed finally to sell the building for about US$2.3 million.
In April, under intense pressure of bullying and threats from the United States, the then government closed down more than 80 foreign banks registered in Nauru and further curbed the operation of its finance centre.
This deprived it of useful revenue.
The United States, which claimed that Nauru was being used for money laundering and other criminal activities, denied claims by some Nauruan politicians that it had promised to compensate Nauru for its finance centre losses.
