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
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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
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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
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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