KIRIBATI UPDATE:

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SUVA 000427 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR PEACE CORPS: DIRECTOR TSCHETTER; ALENE ZANGER E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV EFIS SENV PHSA KCRM KWMN ELAB EAID SMIG, KR SUBJECT: KIRIBATI UPDATE: REF: A. SUVA 406 ¶B. SUVA 334 ¶C. STATE 89226 ¶D. SUVA 386 ¶E. SUVA 399 Classified By: Amb. Dinger. Sec. 1.4 (B,D). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Kiribati President Tong, Vice President Onorio, and five other Ministers were re-elected to Parliament in a first round of elections on Aug. 22. A second round of run-off races takes place today. Once Parliament is in place, it will select three or four MPs to run for President in October. Tong looks likely to win a second presidential term. He has intimated it will be his last, and he will be ready to make tough decisions. The Australian High Commission in Kiribati sees indications that Tong was fully involved in the decision to sell tuna licenses to South and Central American purse-seiners. The sense is that Kiribati looks out for its own financial interests, regardless of regional commitments. Australia is discussing with UNIFEM how that agency might assist in the effort to curb the practice in Kiribati of girls providing sexual services to Korean fishing boats. End summary. Kiribati elections and presidential politics -------------- ¶2. (SBU) An Aug. 30 phone conversation with the Australian High Commissioner to Kiribati provided an update on issues discussed in reftels. The Kiribati general election's first phase took place on Aug. 22, with President Tong, Vice President Onorio, and five Ministers winning their parliamentary seats. The Tong coalition took 15 of the 18 seats decided. A Court of Appeals decision in early August that overturned a high court judgment against the Tong government for mishandling of fiscal policy (Ref A) became ammunition for the Tong coalition in the campaign. The second election phase for candidates who did well in the first round but didn't reach "50 1%" takes place today, Aug. ¶30. Only one Minister didn't make it to the second round, the Minister of Commerce, who had been active in pushing a "privatization" theme. The Australian High Commissioner saw that Minister as one of Kiribati's brightest stars, but local politics on his small island apparently overrode national achievements. ¶3. (SBU) Once the Kiribati Parliament is in place, it will choose three or four MPs to run nation-wide for President in early October. Given the results to date, it appears certain Tong will be one of the candidates. He reportedly has let people know he is willing to serve a second term; but he won't take a third term. He has indicated he will be willing to make tough decisions in a second term, with no further political aspirations to be factored in. Tuna license problem -------------- ¶4. (C) The Director of the Forum Fisheries Agency and a Kiribati-citizen FFA official visited Tarawa recently. High on their agenda was the Kiribati Government's licensing of South and Central American purse-seiners to fish for tuna in Kiribati waters. Per Refs B-D, the USG has expressed serious concern about those licenses. The FFA Director reportedly had a long and serious conversation with President Tong, who was adamant that Kiribati has the right to maximize its income. Since Kiribati does not have the surveillance capacity to ensure Tuna Treaty compliance, it intends to license and receive revenues from those who would fish in Kiribati waters, legally or illegally. More generally, Australia has noted an "in it for ourselves" theme from Kiribati in recent years: a willingness to sign on to cooperate regionally, but to go it alone whenever there is possible financial gain. ¶5. (C) There have long been rumors of corruption in the Kiribati Ministry for Fisheries. President Tong reshuffled personnel last year, attempting either to clean up such activities or gain control of them. President Tong's younger brother Peter became Secretary for Fisheries. The selling of licenses to Ecuador and others suggests no clean-up has occurred, so "gaining control" seems the more likely SUVA 00000427 002 OF 002 Presidential motive in the restructuring. G/TIP and Kiribati -------------- ¶6. (U) Regarding the Kiribati problem of girls providing sexual services to visiting foreign (Korean) fishing ships, the Australian High Commission is encouraging the regional UNIFEM (Suva) office to take a role. We discussed a Kiribati official's suggestion (Ref E) that an important early step should be a baseline survey to "get beyond anecdotes." The Aussies will see if UNIFEM is interested in undertaking such a survey. DINGER