Kiribati

Ruth Cross Kwansing said Beijing's rising influence in the Pacific region is no longer as big a concern domestically as it is internationally. Audio

Fourteen 14 sitting MPs lose seats, incumbent president Taneti Maamau as well as opposition leader back, 17 new and 27 returning MPs.

A local resident in Tarawa says although geopolitics has dominated regional politics, domestic issues, such as government subsidies for copra, were the most talked about in these polls. Audio

Polls opened at 7am for almost 53,000 eligible voters to elect 19 candidates, after 25 MPs confirmed their seats in the 45-seat Maneaba ni Maungatabu following the first round on 14 August. Audio

Six MPs from the last parliament, including one cabinet minister, are reported to have lost their seats, according to election results from the Ministry of Culutre and Internal Affairs.

Ruth Cross Kwansing is one of 18 female candidates out of 114 vying for a parliamentary seat in Kiribati's national election.

Incumbent President Taneti Maamau has retained his seat in Onotoa, according to unofficial results after the first round of the polls on Wednesday.

Campaigning, which has been going on for months, has "become more intense" and "the incumbent candidates seeking re-election [are] really going out", a Kiribati journalist says.

A local resident in the capital Tarawa told RNZ Pacific on the eve of the election is an "important moment" for people of Micronesian nation.

The soaring cost of living and signs the government's struggling to meet its obligations are dominant discussion points going into next Wednesday's first poll in Kiribati. Audio

Kiribati journalist Rimon Rimon speaks to RNZ Pacific's senior journalist Don Wiseman ahead of the 2024 Kiribati elections next week.

Over 100 candidates are to contest the Kiribati election in a fortnight hoping to get elected into atoll island nations the 44-seat parliament.

The nation has experienced a turbulent last four years, choosing to switch diplomatic allegiance to China over Taiwan, pulling out of and then returning to the Pacific Islands Forum. Audio

The people of Kiribati, celebrating their 45th Independence Anniversary this weekend, will go to the polls next month to elect a new legislature, the Maneaba ni Maungatabu.

The Australian newswire service, AAP, has reported Australian officials are being frozen out of Kiribati as the country is courted by China.

A Kiribati judge, who has been battling a government determined to have him removed from his post, has now left the country. David Lambourne, for nearly four years, has faced...