Row looming in Tuvalu
p. 12 · Read in the full issue
All is not smooth sailing as the 7,000-plus inhabitants of Tuvalu, formerly the Ellice Islands, move towards political independence.
In a letter to Dr David Owen, British Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, Mr Isakala Paeniu, member of the House of Assembly for Nukulaelae Island, has called for the removal of the Chief Minister, Mr Toalipi Lauti,for alleged irregularities in his conduct of the proceedings of the constitutional committee.
Among claims made by Mr Paeniu are that there was no clear majority” for the adoption by the House of the report of the constitutional committee, that the report was tabled in the House in the first place against the advice of the constitutional committee, and that the Chief Minister, as chairman of the constitutional committee, was responsible for suppressing majority decisions of the committee, including one favouring two House of Assembly members for each of Tuvalu’s eight island constituencies, instead of one as at present.