The Right Honourable Willy Telavi |
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Prime Minister of Tuvalu | |
In office 24 December 2010 – 1 August 2013 |
|
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Governor-General | Iakoba Italeli |
Preceded by | Maatia Toafa |
Succeeded by | Enele Sopoaga |
Minister for Home Affairs | |
In office 16 August 2006 – 23 September 2011 |
|
Prime Minister |
Apisai Ielemia Maatia Toafa |
Preceded by | Aunese Simati |
Succeeded by | Pelenike Isaia |
Member of the Tuvaluan Parliament for Nanumea |
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In office 3 August 2006 – 25 August 2014 |
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Preceded by | Sio Patiale |
Succeeded by | Satini Manuella |
Personal details | |
Born |
Nanumea, Gilbert and Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu) |
28 January 1954
Political party | Independent |
Alma mater |
University of the South Pacific Charles Darwin University |
Willy Telavi (born 28 January 1954) is a Tuvaluan politician who was Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 2010 to 2013.
Telavi was first elected to parliament in 2006 and was re-elected in 2010. He became prime minister on 24 December 2010 and the Telavi Ministry retained government until August 2013. The refusal of prime minister Telavi to recall the Parliament of Tuvalu after the Nukufetau by-election, 2013 resulted in a constitutional crisis when he adopted the position that, under the Constitution of Tuvalu, he was only required to convene parliament once a year, and was thus under no obligation to summon it until December 2013. The opposition then requested the governor-general of Tuvalu, Sir Iakoba Italeli, to intervene against the Telavi’s decision. On 3 July, Italeli exercised his reserve powers in ordering parliament to convene, against the prime minister Telavi's wishes, on 30 July. On 1 August 2013 Italeli again exercised his reserve powers and dismissed Telavi as prime minister and appointed the opposition leader Enele Sopoaga as Tuvalu’s caretaker prime minister. A day later, on 2 August 2013, Telavi's government was successfully brought down through a vote of no confidence in parliament. He resigned from parliament in August 2014. He was absent for much of the parliamentary year tending to his sick wife in Hawaii, and he resigned in order to remain at his wife's side.
Telavi is from Nanumea. His career in the Tuvalu police force culminated in his appointment as police commissioner in 1993, a position he held for thirteen years. He earned a degree in legal studies from the University of the South Pacific in 1999 and a master's degree in international management from Northern Territory University in 2000. Willy Telavi was appointed to his current position in May 1993, he has served more than 16 years in various positions with the Tuvalu police force.