Marcus Ajemada Stephen (born 1 October 1969) is a
Nauru
Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru, formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies within the Micronesia subregion of Oceania, with its nearest neighbour being Banaba (part of ...
an politician and former sportsperson who previously was a member of the
Cabinet of Nauru, and who served as
President of Nauru from December 2007 to November 2011. The son of Nauruan parliamentarian
Lawrence Stephen, Stephen was educated at
St Bedes College and
RMIT University
The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...
in
Victoria,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. Initially playing
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
, he opted to pursue the sport of
weightlifting
Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...
, in which he represented Nauru at the
Summer Olympics and
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...
between 1990 and 2002, winning seven Commonwealth gold medals.
After his retirement from weightlifting, Stephen worked at the Bank of Nauru before being elected to parliament at the
2003 elections. Having occupied various portfolios in the Nauruan government under President
René Harris, Stephen was sworn in as president after moving a no confidence motion against his predecessor,
Ludwig Scotty. His term as president was marked by allegations of corruption and accusations of a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup
, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
, as well as the declaration of a
state of emergency
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...
and a suspension from parliament by the Nauruan Supreme Court in 2008. Two separate elections were called in April and June 2010 after accusations of bribery of government members of parliament, with another state of emergency declared in the period between elections. Stephen resigned from the presidency in November 2011 after further allegations of corruption were raised by opposition factions, and was succeeded by
Freddie Pitcher, but was re-appointed to the Cabinet in June 2012 by Pitcher's successor as president,
Sprent Dabwido. On 27 August 2019, Stephen was elected as the new
Speaker of Parliament during its inaugural session.
Family background
Marcus Stephen's father,
Lawrence Stephen, served as a Member of the
Parliament of Nauru from 1971 to 1977 and again from 1980 to 1986. He is
related to the prominent Keke family of Nauru.
Education and background
Stephen received his high School education in Australia, attending
St Bede's College,
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
. He has a Diploma in Business Accounting from the
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. From 2001 to 2003 he was employed in management at The Bank of Nauru.
Sporting career
He initially played
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
for the local team the Aces, but opted to pursue the sport of weightlifting. In 1989 the Nauru Weightlifting Federation (NWF) was founded, primarily to give Stephen, the sole top-class weightlifter in Nauru at the time, the opportunity to compete internationally.
In 1992 he took part in his first Olympic Games in Barcelona. Since Nauru had no Olympic Committee at the time, he successfully applied for
Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...
n citizenship and was allowed to compete for Samoa. In 1993 the committee was founded and Stephen was able to represent Nauru in the
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
and the
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...
in Sydney.
When the Olympic torch was carried to Sydney in 2000, Stephen had the honour of being a torch bearer during its stopover in Nauru.
It was at the
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...
where most of his successes came: In the
1990 Commonwealth Games he surprisingly won a gold medal in the
Snatch in the 60 kg class. In the
1994 Commonwealth Games he won three gold medals in the 59 kg class and in the
1998 Commonwealth Games in the 62 kg class he collected three more golds. In his last Games, the
2002 Commonwealth Games
The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...
in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
he won three silvers in the 62 kg class.
At the 1999 World Championship in
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, he was runner up in the
clean and jerk
The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without rest ...
in the 62 kg class.
In 2005 he was elected member of the
International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
.
In March 2008, it was reported that Stephen had been appointed to the presidency of the Oceania Weightlifting Federation, the Pacific region's official continental weightlifting body.
["Nauru president to head weightlifting body"]
ABC Radio Australia, 30 March 2008
In January 2009, he was elected president of the Nauru National Olympic Committee, defeating
Vinson Detenamo, who had been president of the committee since its recognition by the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
in 1994.
Political career
Since 1997 he has been the Treasurer of the Nauruan Olympic Committee. On 3 May 2003 Stephen was elected to the Nauru parliament with a score of just over 215 points, achieving first place in the
Ewa and
Anetan Constituency.
During the presidency of
René Harris, Stephen was and
Minister of Finance and of Education from August 2003 until July 2004, a post he had to relinquish when
Ludwig Scotty became the new president. In October 2004 he was re-elected to parliament.
Following his re election in October 2004 into the
Parliament of Nauru, Stephen was appointed as Minister for Nauru Phosphate Royalties Trust; During his first term, due to the nature of a
Small Island Developing State (SIDS) such as Nauru, with a political system relying on independent politicians, Stephen synergised several ministry posts including Minister for Economic Development & Industry; Minister responsible for Good Governance; Minister for Justice; Police & Prisons and Internal Affairs. Between November 2004 and May 2006 Stephen held Chairmanship of the Nauru Fisheries & Marine Resources Authority later becoming Minister for Nauru Fisheries & Marine Resources on 13 November 2007.
After Nauru joined the
International Whaling Commission
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is a specialised regional fishery management organisation, established under the terms of the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) to "provide for the proper conservation ...
(IWC) on 15 June 2005, Stephen was nominated as a delegate for Nauru. He represented Nauru at the IWC-Congress in June 2005 in the South Korean city of
Ulsan.
Stephen was re-elected to parliament in the August 2007 parliamentary election. He unsuccessfully stood as a presidential candidate in the
vote held in parliament on 28 August, in which Scotty was re-elected.
["Scotty returned as Nauru president"]
AAP (smh.com.au), 28 August 2007.
However, following a successful
vote of no confidence
A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...
in Parliament against President Scotty on 19 December 2007, Marcus Stephen was sworn in as President of Nauru.
["MPs oust Nauru's president"]
, ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 19 December 2007.
President of Nauru
2007
In the initial period of his Administration, Stephen moved to continue the practice, commenced by former President
Ludwig Scotty, of appointing a separate Foreign Affairs Minister, when Dr.
Kieren Keke (a cousin of Stephen) was installed in that post in December 2007. Previously, each
President of Nauru had concurrently acted as his own Foreign Affairs Minister, although this was customary rather than a constitutional requirement. Stephen also appointed
Frederick Pitcher as Finance Minister, and his Administration inherited the austerity measures associated with the outgoing Scotty Administration.
Regarding constitutional affairs, however, one of the major issues facing the new Stephen Administration was the process of constitutional revision consultations, started by former President
Ludwig Scotty. These centred mainly on proposals to elect the President of Nauru by direct, popular election, rather than indirectly by the
Parliament of Nauru, and which would thus restrict somewhat the frequent recourse to the
vote of no confidence
A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...
, which has been a feature of Nauru's political life for many years. Since Marcus Stephen came to office in circumstances involving the overturning of the previous government's Parliamentary majority in just such a manner, it remained to be seen what the Stephen Administration's formal position and practice on this issue would be.
At a personal level, the appointment of Marcus Stephen as President of Nauru at the age of 38, together with a youthful ministerial team, marked somewhat of a generational shift from some of the political figures who have dominated Nauruan politics in recent years; e.g., he was nearly 40 years younger than
Derog Gioura, who served as President of Nauru in 2003, having entered the Parliament of Nauru in 1968, before the birth of Stephen. However, the appointment of youthful heads of state in the Republic of Nauru is by no means unknown;
Bernard Dowiyogo assumed the office of President of Nauru at the even younger age of 30 in 1976. It may be added that since Stephen's presidency was to last a few years, his actual experience of office was to grow to be much longer than that of several previous holders of the same office.
2008
Political turmoil
In March 2008 moves in the Parliament of Nauru to unseat the Administration of Marcus Stephen by means of a
vote of no confidence
A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...
were thwarted by the resignation of the Speaker,
Riddell Akua. Unrest on the island which involved threats to export trade and the torching of a police station were events which occurred shortly prior to Parliamentary moves to remove President Stephen and his Administration from office.
At the end of the first three months of Stephen's presidency there was thus widespread unrest in the country.
=Stephen and Speaker of Parliament accusations
=
On 22 March, the Speaker of the Parliament of Nauru,
David Adeang, called a Parliamentary session, allegedly without informing government ministers, who therefore did not attend. Opposition MPs, Adeang included, constituted a majority of legislators present, and passed a ruling outlawing dual
citizenship
Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state.
Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...
for Members of Parliament. The ruling, if applied, would have affected senior Cabinet ministers Dr.
Kieren Keke and
Frederick Pitcher. Had they been compelled to resign from Parliament, the Opposition would have controlled a majority of seats in Parliament. The government rejected the legitimacy of the ruling, stating that it was
unconstitutional
In constitutional law, constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applic ...
because of the lack of parliamentary
quorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a group necessary to constitute the group at a meeting. In a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature), a quorum is necessary to conduct the business of ...
.
President Marcus Stephen accused Adeang and the Opposition of passing the ruling "after dark on Easter Saturday", "under candelight".
On 31 March, Adeang claimed that the Stephen Administration had mounted a coup d'état because the loyalty of the police to the rule of Parliamentary law was no longer present, after the police refused to eject Keke and Pitcher from the chamber of the Parliament.
=Coup allegations
=
The Stephen Administration, in response, denied the claim of a coup d'état, stating that they were awaiting a ruling from the Supreme Court on the issue.
The crisis continued into early April 2008, with Adeang stating that he would consider the Supreme Court's ruling as "just an opinion", and Keke responding that the Supreme Court, not the Speaker, had the jurisdiction to determine a member of Parliament's eligibility.
=Supreme Court ruling
=
A ruling by the Supreme Court in April 2008 that the Speaker of the Parliament of Nauru had erred in seeking to exclude from Parliament two key ministers, who also made up the Government's majority, was seen to have enhanced the constitutionality of the Stephen Administration's make up.
Relations between the Stephen Administration and Adeang remained under severe strain, however, and the Administration's ministers continued to exercise executive powers without the support of an absolute parliamentary majority.
=Stephen suspended from Parliament
=
By 10 April, the tenuous connection between the rule of the Stephen Administration and the Parliament of Nauru was further diminished. President Stephen and the eight other members of the 18-member Parliament who supported his Administration were suspended from the Parliamentary sitting, amidst rowdy scenes, by the Speaker, David Adeang, who had difficulty in making himself heard when commenting on the recent Supreme Court decision regarding dual nationality for MPs.
=State of emergency and 2nd Administration
=
On 18 April 2008, Stephen declared a
state of emergency
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...
and called a
snap election
A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Snap elections in parliamentary systems are often called to resolve a political impasse such as a hung parliament where no single political party has a ma ...
to end months of political deadlock. At the
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...
held on 26 April 2008, Marcus Stephen's supporters gave his administration a majority in the Parliament of Nauru.
Prior to 24 April
2008 general election the 18 members of the Parliament of Nauru became a
Hung Parliament
A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system (typically employing Majoritarian representation, majoritarian electoral systems) to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing ...
split 9:9, between the supporters of President Stephen and the Splinter group led by foreign minister
David Adeang. In the snap parliamentary election which consisted of 5'017 voters across eight Constituencies and the 18 seats, the 9 pro government members held their seats while the anti Stephen members were reduced to 6, replaced by three newly elected MP's who sided with President Stephen. As a consequence Stephen was re-elected as President of Nauru after holding his
Anetan Constituency seat.
=Moves to expand private banking facilities
=
The Stephen Administration announced in November 2008 moves to expand private banking facilities in Nauru. These were mooted as being designed to confront commercial stagnation.
2009
The year 2009 opened with the Stephen Administration enjoying a more consolidated position than it had experienced in its first few months of existence. (See, above:
Marcus Stephen#Political turmoil.)
2010: Political turmoil and State of Emergency
In late 2009 or early 2010, the Stephen Cabinet rejected a proposed loan from Australian company Getax, which buys Nauruan phosphate. Getax offered Nauru a loan of
A$25 million, with a 15% interest rate, which, according to a later investigation by newspaper ''
The Australian
''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...
'', "would be likely to have resulted in the country defaulting on its repayments, triggering contract provisions that would have let Getax take over the Nauru-owned phosphate industry". The government refused the offer, Stephen later explaining: "It would have been disastrous for Nauru. It we had defaulted on one payment, we would have lost the phosphate industry. Cabinet unanimously rejected it."
["Nauru instability 'Aussie phosphate plot'"](_blank)
''The Australian'', 25 October 2010["Mutiny on the phosphate bounty"](_blank)
''The Australian'', 26 October 2010
Shortly thereafter, Getax organised and funded a trip to
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
for all six opposition MPs, as well as three non-Cabinet government MPs. Following the trip, the latter three defected to the opposition, and the Stephen government's parliamentary majority shrank from twelve-six to nine-all, leaving Parliament deadlocked.
Following "repeated unsuccessful bids by the opposition to lodge motions of no confidence in the government of Marcus Stephen", early elections were
held in April 2010.
They resulted in all sitting MPs being re-elected,
prompting fresh, equally inconclusive
elections in June.
Following opposition attempts to prevent a presidential election by MPs,
Stephen declared a
state of emergency
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...
. The government officially reported that it was continuing its functions in a transitory capacity, in accordance with articles 16 and 20 of the Constitution, until a President could be elected by a majority in Parliament. Article 16.4 states that the President will remain at his post until a new president is elected, while article 20 states that Cabinet members' mandates end when a new president is elected. The opposition challenged the state of emergency, a challenge which was thrown out by the Supreme Court in October, on the grounds that it is the President's constitutional prerogative to determine whether a state of emergency exists.
A few days later, after "Australian officials ha
confidentially expressed concern to the government of Nauru over Getax's alleged role in the destabilisation" of the country, Stephen's government asked Australia to investigate "the activities of Getax and any financial ties it may have with politicians in Nauru", namely members of the opposition. Stephen, and Justice Minister
Mathew Batsiua, asked for an Australian investigation into money allegedly paid by Gatex to members of the opposition, which they suggested might constitute bribes. Nauru's Director of Public Prosecutions stated there had been "attempts to bring about a change of government by bribery of members of parliament", and Stephen released documents "showing opposition members on salaries of less than $150 a week spending significant sums of cash on boats, cars, voters and trips". The allegations were that Gatex had bribed opposition members, both through personal donations and by financing their election campaigns, in the hopes that the opposition would win power and sign the deal enabling the loan which the Stephen administration had rejected. The allegation was also that Getax had bribed non-Cabinet government MPs in an attempt to undermine Stephen's parliamentary majority and bring down his government, and that these actions had resulted in the early 2010 parliamentary deadlock, the 2010 elections and the accompanying political crisis. Nauru's Commissioner of Police "lacked the resources to mount an investigation that would span Singapore, Australia and Nauru"; hence Nauru's request to Australia. In response to the request, the
Australian Federal Police
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal Federal police, federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government responsible for investigating Crime in Australia, crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth ...
began an investigation into the allegation that Getax had bribed Nauruan opposition MPs.
A few days after that,
Ludwig Scotty accepted the position of Speaker in Parliament, enabling a presidential election to take place. Marcus Stephen was duly re-elected President, with a workable parliamentary majority, defeating
Milton Dube by eleven votes to six.
The state of emergency was consequently lifted.
Scotty explained that he remained a member of the Opposition, but that he had accepted the position of Speaker so that Parliament could function (giving the Opposition a say in government), and so that a budget could be adopted. He explained that his decision was also due to the allegations over Opposition members receiving financial support from Getax.
Post-presidency
On 10 November 2011, President Marcus Stephen resigned from the presidency amid corruption allegations levelled by the Nauruan opposition.
Opposition MPs accused Stephen of seeking to illegally profit from a
phosphate
Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus.
In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthop ...
deal.
[ Stephen called the charges "unwarranted and mischievous."][ He resigned the presidency, but remained in parliament.][ He was succeeded by one of his allies, Freddie Pitcher, who was removed five days later, and replaced by Sprent Dabwido. Stephen remained in opposition until June 2012, when he was given the portfolios of Commerce, Industry & Environment, Nauru Phosphate Royalties Trust, and Fisheries in Dabwido's new Cabinet.
Stephen contested his Anetan Constituency during the 2016 Nauruan parliamentary election but lost his seat in Parliament.]
- The Government of the Republic of Nauru. Published 11 July 2016.
He ran successfully in the 2019 Nauruan parliamentary election and re-entered Parliament as one of two Members representing the Anetan Constituency. On 27 August 2019, Stephen was elected as the new Parliament Speaker defeating rival Shadlog Bernicke by 12 votes to 7.
Stephen was returned as Speaker unopposed after the 2022 Nauruan parliamentary election.
See also
* Politics of Nauru
* Political families of the world#Nauru
* 2008 Nauruan parliamentary election
References
External links
*
Official biography
on the website of the Parliament of Nauru
President Stephen's address to the United Nations General Assembly
on 24 September 2008
Stephen: "Countries Least Responsible for Climate Change are Most Threatened by It"
- video report by '' Democracy Now!''
A Sinking Feeling; Why is the president of the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru so concerned about climate change?
by Marcus Stephen in The New York Times Upfront November 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephen, Marcus
1969 births
Living people
People from Anetan District
Presidents of Nauru
Ministers of finance of Nauru
Government ministers of Nauru
Environment ministers of Nauru
Members of the Parliament of Nauru
Speakers of the Parliament of Nauru
Nauruan male weightlifters
Nauruan sportsperson-politicians
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Nauru
Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Nauru
Weightlifters at the 1990 Commonwealth Games
Weightlifters at the 1994 Commonwealth Games
Weightlifters at the 1998 Commonwealth Games
Weightlifters at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
Olympic weightlifters for Nauru
Olympic weightlifters for Samoa
Weightlifters at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Weightlifters at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Weightlifters at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Nauruan Christians
RMIT University alumni
Education ministers of Nauru
21st-century Nauruan politicians
Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games
Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games
Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games
Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
People educated at St Bede's College (Mentone)
Commonwealth Games gold medallists in weightlifting
Commonwealth Games silver medallists in weightlifting