Country gets ready

Kiribati

Country gets ready to go to polls

KIRIBATI was gearing up for general elections last month following the fall of the government and dissolution of parliament last May. Registration of voters had closed on all inhabited islands and the chief electoral officer, Teramweai Itinraoi, said the number of voters registered this year was fewer than in the last general election held in 1991.

The Electoral Commission had earlier estimated that the number of voters in Kiribati would increase from the more than 29.000 in 1991 to well over 32,000 this year. But just over 27.000 voters have registered.

Two hundred and sixty candidates were to have contested the 39 seats in the poll. Run-off elections were to be held on July 29 for any constituencies which produced inconclusive results. □