The governor-general of Tuvalu is the vice-regal representative of the Tuvaluan monarch, currently

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

, in the country of

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northea ...

. The monarch is the head of state of Tuvalu, with the governor-general performing the monarch's duties in Tuvalu. The constitutional convention is that the governor-general represents the monarch and acts on the advice of the prime minister. The office of the governor-general was created on 1 October 1978, when Tuvalu gained independence from the United Kingdom as a sovereign state and an independent constitutional monarchy. Since then, 10 individuals have served as governor-general. The incumbent, since 28 September 2021, is Sir Tofiga Vaevalu Falani.

Constitutional status and appointment

The monarchy of Tuvalu exists in a framework of a

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

representative democracy Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represe ...

. As a constitutional monarch, the King acts entirely on the advice of his government ministers in Tuvalu. The monarch is recognised in section 50 of the

Constitution of Tuvalu The Constitution of Tuvalu states that it is “the supreme law of Tuvalu” and that “all other laws shall be interpreted and applied subject to this Constitution”; it sets out the Principles of the Bill of Rights and the Protection of the ...

, as a symbol of the unity and identity of Tuvalu. The powers of the head of state are set out in section 52 (1) of the Constitution. As set out in section 54 of the Constitution, the King's representative in Tuvalu is the governor-general. Section 58 of the Constitution requires the governor-general to perform the monarch's functions when the sovereign is outside Tuvalu or otherwise incapacitated. The governor-general is appointed by the monarch upon the advice of the Tuvaluan prime minister.

Functions

The governor-general has constitutional responsibilities and

reserve power In a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government, a reserve power, also known as discretionary power, is a power that may be exercised by the head of state without the approval of another branch or part of the government. Unlike in ...

s in relation to the ordering the

Parliament of Tuvalu The Parliament of Tuvalu (called ''Fale i Fono'' in Tuvaluan, or ''Palamene o Tuvalu'') is the unicameral national legislature of Tuvalu. The place at which the parliament sits is called the ''Vaiaku maneapa''. The ''maneapa'' on each island is ...

to convene and the appointment and dismissal of the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Exercise of reserve powers

In 2003, the Chief Justice of the

High Court of Tuvalu The High Court of Tuvalu is the superior court of Tuvalu. It has unlimited original jurisdiction to determine the Law of Tuvalu and hears appeals from the lower courts. General jurisdiction of the High Court The High Court of Tuvalu has general ...

delivered directions as to how the governor-general should proceed to take any action they considers to be appropriate under Section 116(1) of the Constitution, acting in his own deliberate judgment, rather than as advised by the cabinet. That is, the governor-general could consider whether it was appropriate to exercise their

reserve powers Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US v ...

in calling Parliament. The then Governor-General, Sir

Iakoba Italeli Sir Iakoba Taeia Italeli is a Tuvaluan politician who was the governor-general of Tuvalu from 16 April 2010, until 22 August 2019, when he resigned to contest in the 2019 general election. He is also a former attorney general of Tuvalu who ...

was called on to exercise the reserve powers when Prime Minister Willy Telavi refused to recall parliament after the

2013 Nukufetau by-election A by-election was held in the Nukufetau constituency in Tuvalu on 28 June 2013.

. A

constitutional crisis In political science, a constitutional crisis is a problem or conflict in the function of a government that the political constitution or other fundamental governing law is perceived to be unable to resolve. There are several variations to this ...

developed when Prime Minister Telavi responded that, under the Constitution, he was only required to convene parliament once a year, and was thus under no obligation to summon it until December 2013. Tuvalu's opposition then requested the governor-general to intervene against the prime minister's decision. On 3 July, Italeli exercised his reserve powers in ordering parliament to convene, against the prime minister's wishes, on 30 July. When the Parliament met on 30 July, the Speaker (Sir Kamuta Latasi) refused to allow a debate on a

motion 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 ...

in the government of Willy Telavi. After further political maneuvers, Italeli then proceeded to exercise his

to order Telavi to stand down as prime minister and appointed

Enele Sopoaga Enele Sosene Sopoaga PC (born 10 February 1956) is a Tuvaluan diplomat and politician who was Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 2013 to 2019. Sopoaga was elected to Parliament in the 2010 general election. He served as Deputy Prime Minister and ...

as interim prime minister. The governor-general also ordered that parliament sit on Friday 2 August to allow a vote of no-confidence in Telavi and his government. Telavi then proceeded to write to

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...

, Queen of Tuvalu, informing her that he was dismissing Italeli from his position as governor-general. The Queen made no reaction at all, thus leaving Sir Iakoba secure in his post. The constitutional crisis was resolved by a motion of no confidence in the government of Willy Tevali, which was held on 2 August 2013: the voting was eight for the motion, four against and one abstention. On 4 August the parliament elected

as prime minister.

Symbols and privileges

The governor-general uses a personal flag, which features a lion passant atop a St. Edward's royal crown with "Tuvalu" written across a scroll underneath, all on a blue background. It is flown on buildings and other locations in Tuvalu to mark the governor-general's presence. All governors-general have been awarded the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

. Faimalaga Luka had thus far been the only governor-general to decline a knighthood.

Residence

Government House in Funafuti is the official residence of the governor-general of Tuvalu.

List of governors-general

Following is a list of people who have served as Governor-General of Tuvalu since independence in 1978. A total of ten people have held the position on a permanent basis, while an additional three people have held it on an interim basis due to a vacancy. Teniku Talesi was the first woman to be appointed to the role (albeit for an interim period), holding office from the resignation of

in August 2019, until being replaced by Samuelu Teo (then also serving as Speaker of Parliament) in January 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuvalu, Governor-General Of 1978 establishments in Tuvalu Government of Tuvalu Lists of governors-general Governors-General