Polls closed in the Pacific nation of Kiribati Wednesday, capping a campaign dominated by cost-of-living worries, rising sea levels and questions about the benefit of deeper ties with China.
Voters have been selecting a batch of lawmakers to represent their 130,000-strong nation of more than a dozen islands and atolls hugging the international dateline.
The vote takes place as China and the United States and its allies vie for influence across the Pacific.
The incumbent president, 63-year-old Taneti Maamau, is seeking to extend his almost-decade-long tenure.
Maamau has drawn Kiribati closer to Beijing, betting ties with the world’s second-largest economy will help it meet ambitious 2036 development goals.
Ruth Cross Kwansing, a candidate for the South Tarawa region, said she decided to run to help people on Kiribati “develop and thrive.”
But she acknowledged the super-power rivalry in her small corner of the Pacific, telling AFP there was room for cooperation with both Beijing and Washington.
Although there were significant concerns about the resumption of ties with China four years ago, she said things had been “nothing but positive.”
“China has managed to create a friendship with the Kiribati people,” she said.
She believes the biggest question if Maamau secures another term would be: “What is happening with the U.S. relationship?”
‘Historic achievements’
Voter turnout appeared to be high.
A thatched-roof polling station in Banraeaba village, home to about 2,875 people, was packed by midday, with voters complaining as more people arrived.
Police officers were called in to manage the flow of voters, who sat cross-legged trying to entertain children as they waited to cast their ballots.
One officer helped erect a makeshift booth, using string and rice-bag curtains, to hasten the process.
Before the polls, China’s ambassador Zhou Limin praised Maamau’s government and its “historic achievements.”
“In the past year, I have observed an increase in the number of cars on the roads, a wider range of goods in supermarkets, and new entertainment equipment at playgrounds, which are strong proof of the improvement of Kiribati people’s life quality,” he wrote.
Some residents saw less to cheer about and complained about the rapidly rising cost of living.
Consumer prices rose more than nine percent last year, according to official data.
There are concerns that, despite faster economic growth, closer China ties have fueled what one former Kiribati president described as creeping authoritarianism.
Maamau has in recent years suspended two High Court justices, expelling one who is the partner of a Kiribati opposition leader.
He also signed off on a secret policing deal that brought uniformed Chinese officers to the capital Tarawa.
The rotating cadres of Beijing police advisers were ostensibly sent to help train Kiribati’s under-resourced force.
However, some Western analysts allege that Chinese activities in Kiribati — from police deployments to studying a new runway on Kanton Island and extensive marine mapping — are a toehold for establishing a bigger security footprint.
Graeme Smith of the Australian National University said sending police to Kiribati offered Beijing “another intelligence channel into what is happening in the country… another line of reporting in addition to their diplomats.”
‘Change the direction’
Despite China’s largesse, a significant drop in foreign aid — along with a massive pay rise for government workers — means Kiribati’s fiscal deficit is expected to jump to 9.7 percent of GDP this year, according to Asian Development Bank forecasts.
Inflation-hit voters may decide the time has come for a change of approach.
“If Maamau doesn’t get back in and the opposition faction does, that could completely change the direction in Kiribati,” Jon Fraenkel, a political science professor at Wellington’s Victoria University, told AFP.
Parliament will resume on September 13 when a new speaker and candidates for the presidential election are chosen.
Low-lying Kiribati faces a raft of economic and environmental challenges, such as rising sea levels that regularly taint scarce supplies of drinking water.
With outer atolls already under threat from coastal erosion, Tarawa has become one of the world’s most densely populated places on a par even with Tokyo.
Residents are plagued by contagious diseases and other symptoms of overcrowding.
