Nukufetau by-election, 2013
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A by-election was held in the Nukufetau constituency in Tuvalu on 28 June 2013. It followed the death of MP and Minister for Finance Lotoala Metia, who died suddenly on 21 December 2012.
The by-election ultimately played a key part in an unprecedented constitutional crisis, culminating in a change of government.
The by-election was seen as crucial for the future of Prime Minister Willy Telavi's government, which was reduced by Metia's death to a parity of seven seats apiece with the Opposition in Parliament. The government had previously survived a by-election in August 2011 caused by the death of Minister for Works Isaia Italeli.
Nukufetau is a two-seat constituency. In the 2010 general election, it had returned Enele Sopoaga and Lotoala Metia, respectively with 40.46% and 32.95% of the vote, ahead of one other candidate (incumbent Elisala Pita). For the by-election, of course, only one seat would be provided for, Sopoaga (the Leader of the Opposition) retaining the other.
By early February 2013, no date had been set for the Nukufetau by-election, prompting the opposition to accuse the government of unnecessary (and potentially unconstitutional) delay. Tensions were reported on Nukufetau between supporters of the government and supporters of the opposition, with fears of violence, accentuating calls that the election should be decided swiftly. The opposition was campaigning actively for the seat, before the by-election had even been called. Nukufetau's council of elders (Falekaupule) reportedly backed the opposition, as they had been doing for a while; in 2011, the elders had unsuccessfully asked Metia to "reconsider his allegiance" to Telavi, and to support Sopoaga instead. By mid-March, the government had still not set a date for the by-election, and Opposition MP Taukelina Finikaso accused the Telavi government of having shelved a water supply project on Nukufetau, so as to punish the atoll for its elders' lack of political support.
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