Cook Islands general election, 2014

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9 July 2014

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MPs elected →

24 seats
13 seats needed for a majority

Turnout

79.5%

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Henry Puna	Wilkie Rasmussen	Teina Bishop
Party	CIP	DP	OCI
Leader since	September 2006	February 2012	April 2014
Leader's seat	Manihiki	Penrhyn	Arutanga-Reureu-Nikaupara
Last election	16 44.5%	8 39.2%	New party
Seats before	16	8	New party
Seats won	13	8	2
Seat change	-3	0	+2
Percentage	42.3%	46.1%	9.6%

Prime Minister before election

Henry Puna
CIP

Prime Minister after election

Henry Puna
CIP

A general election was held in the Cook Islands on 9 July 2014. It determined the membership of the 14th Cook Islands Parliament.

The Cook Islands Party retained its majority, winning 13 seats, while the Democratic Party won eight and the new One Cook Islands Movement won two.

The previous elections were held on 17 November 2010. The term of the Parliament was due to expire four years after that date, on 17 November 2014. Elections had to be held no later than three months after that date, with 17 February 2015 being the latest date.

However, on 17 April 2014 the Queen's Representative, Tom Marsters, dissolved Parliament, setting an election date of 9 July. Marsters stated that the Prime Minister, Henry Puna, had informed him that the early election was required in order to have a new government in office prior to the 50th anniversary of the Cook Islands attaining self-government, which will occur in 2015. Masters also said that it would allow the new government to pass a budget in time for the anniversary. Puna blamed minister Teina Bishop for destabilising the government and necessitating the election. Bishop resigned as education and tourism minister the day after the election was announced and subsequently left the Cook Islands Party to form a new party. The Opposition claimed that the Prime Minister had called the election to avoid a no-confidence vote in Parliament, which Puna denied. Leader of the Opposition Wilkie Rasmussen criticised Puna for calling an election with bills yet to complete their passage in Parliament.

A list of candidates was publicly notified on 6 May. 52 candidates contested the election, a decrease from 70 in 2010. Six candidates were women, with Alexis Wolfgramm of the Pan Pacific and Southeast Asia Women's Association blaming the snap election for the lack of more female candidates.

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