Casten Ned Nemra (born July 29, 1971) is a Marshallese politician who was

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Intern ...

for 17 days in January 2016. He was elected by the

Nitijeļā The Legislature of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Nitijeļā ) has 33 members, elected for a four-year term in single-seat and five multi-seat constituencies. The last election was November 18, 2019. Elections in the Marshall Islands are officially ...

(Parliament) as President in January 2016, following the 2015 general election, narrowly defeating Senator

Alvin Jacklick Alvin Jacklick (born 1949) is a Marshallese politician and government minister. In the late 1980s he was elected mayor of Ebeye, at a time when he was described as a "young radical". He was involved in the projects of the Kwajalein Atoll Developm ...

, a seven-term member of Parliament, by a 17–16 vote. He was the youngest person to hold the job and the second commoner. He was ousted by a vote of

no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

after just two weeks in office by the opposition for jumping ship and joining Iroij Mike Kabua's Aelon Kein Ad party along with Senators

Dennis Momotaro Dennis Momotaro (born 26 October 1954 in Majuro) is a Marshallese businessman and government minister. He was assistant manager of the Momotaro Corporation from 1980 to 1991, and general manager from 1991 to 2007. By the late 1990s, his status in ...

and Daisy-Alik Momotaro.

Early life and education

Nemra was born on July 29, 1971, in

Ebeye Ebeye ( ; Marshallese: , or in older orthography, ; locally, , , after the English pronunciation) is the most populous island of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, as well as the center for Marshallese culture in the Ralik Chain of the arc ...

, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, which were part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands at the time. He was educated at Assumption High School, a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

school in

Majuro Majuro (; Marshallese: ' ) is the capital and largest city of the Marshall Islands. It is also a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It forms a legislative district of the Ratak (Sunrise) Chain of the Marshall Islands. The ato ...

. Nemra received a

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

from

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decad ...

in 2000.

Career

Nemra served as the Budget Director for Office of International Development Assistance from 2001 to 2004. He then served as Assistant Secretary for the Ministry of Finance from 2004 to 2007. Nemra was next appointed the Chief Secretary of the Republic of the Marshall Islands from 2008 until 2015. Nemra was elected as a Senator in the

in the 2015 general election, representing the

Jaluit Atoll Jaluit Atoll ( Marshallese: , , or , ) is a large coral atoll of 91 islands in the Pacific Ocean and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is , and it encloses a lagoon with an area of . Mos ...

constituency in the

Ralik Chain The Ralik Chain ( Marshallese: , ) is a chain of islands within the island nation of the Marshall Islands. Ralik means "sunset". It is west of the Ratak Chain. In 1999 the total population of the Ralik islands was 19,915. Christopher Loeak, who b ...

. Since January 2020, he has been the foreign minister of the Marshall Islands. As foreign minister, he highlighted that the Marshallese government and people "have no intention to relocate" or become

climate refugees Climate migrants are a subset of environmental migrants who were forced to flee "due to sudden or gradual alterations in the natural environment related to at least one of three impacts of climate change: sea-level rise, extreme weather events, ...

. He said in April 2021 that the Marshallese are on the islands to stay.

Personal life

Nemra is married to Terry Paul Nemra, the former First Lady of the Marshall Islands. The couple have four children. A resident of

, Nemra speaks both English and Marshallese.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nemra, Casten 1971 births Living people Foreign Ministers of the Marshall Islands Members of the Legislature of the Marshall Islands Oregon State University alumni People from the Ralik Chain Presidents of the Marshall Islands Marshallese Roman Catholics 21st-century Marshallese politicians