Nauru First () is the only formal

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

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 ...

Philosophy and leading members

Its positions tend to be liberal, pro-government transparency, and

Christian democratic Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

. Its founding members were

Kieren Keke Kieren Aedogan Ankwong Keke (born 27 June 1971) is a Nauruan politician and medical doctor. He is a member of the Parliament of Nauru and former Minister of Finance and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Background He is currently a leading figure o ...

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

David Adeang David Ranibok Waiau Adeang (born 24 November 1969) is a Nauruan politician, currently serving as President of Nauru. Adeang is the former Speaker of the Parliament of Nauru, and Nauru's Minister of Finance and Justice, as well as the Minist ...

(a legal counsel and former

minister of finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

), Marlene Moses (former health minister),

Roland Kun Roland Tullen Kun (born 6 May 1970) is a Nauruan politician and Member of Parliament. Political career MP and Minister Kun was elected in 2004 to serve as a Member of the Parliament of Nauru and served as Minister of Justice. Kun was elected ...

(director of the island's

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farm ...

Sean Oppenheimer Sean Oppenheimer (born 7 October 1967) is a Nauruan politician and businessman who was a Parliament of Nauru, Member of Parliament for Anetan District, Anetan from 9 July 2016 to 27 August 2019. He was a member of the Opposition. Oppenheimer is t ...

(manager of Capelle's, the country's largest private enterprise), who has since resigned from the party due to death threats, and

Sprent Dabwido Sprent Arumogo Dabwido (16 September 1972 – 8 May 2019) was a Nauruan politician who served as President of Nauru between 2011 and 2013, and was also a weightlifter. The son of a parliamentarian, Dabwido was originally elected to the Meneng Co ...

(an insurance worker). Its official publication is the irregularly-published ''The Visionary'', which contains harsh criticism of government officials.

Elections

In the May 2003 elections three members of Naoero Amo were elected: David Adeang, Kieren Keke, and

Riddell Akua Michael Riddell Akua (born 26 January 1963) is a political figure from the Pacific nation of the Republic of Nauru. Background Akua has been a member of the Parliament of Nauru since 3 May 2003. From this date on he has also been an important pa ...

. Adeang became finance minister and Keke minister of health, sports, and transportation. Akua became the Chairman of

Nauru Phosphate Corporation The Republic of Nauru Phosphate Corporation (RONPhos) is a government-owned company controlling phosphate mining in Nauru. The company was previously known as the Nauru Phosphate Corporation (NPC). Failed investments In the early years of the ...

. The ministers lost their posts when President Ludwig Scotty's government was ousted in August 2003 but regained new posts when he returned to power on 22 June 2004. Adeang was the

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

and the

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

. The party continued to support President Scotty, and in the 2007 parliamentary elections, Scotty supporters won most of the seats in Parliament. The party system in

remains somewhat fluid and it is not known how many of these supporters are members of the Nauru First Party, but it is known that most of the members currently supporting Scotty were reelected, including Adeang.

Controversies

In December 2007, a dispute among Nauru First Party members David Adeang,

and others led to 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 fit ...

in the

Parliament of Nauru The Parliament of Nauru has 19 members, elected for a three-year term in multi-seat constituencies. The President of Nauru is elected by the members of the Parliament.

, unseating the Administration of the

President of Nauru The president of Nauru is elected by Parliament of Nauru, Parliament from among its members, and is both the head of state and the head of government of Nauru. Nauru's unicameral Parliament has 19 members, with an electoral term of three years. ...

, Ludwig Scotty, and the appointment of a government led by newly appointed President

Marcus Stephen Marcus Ajemada Stephen (born 1 October 1969) is a Nauruan 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 par ...

. This new Administration excluded Adeang in the ministerial team; he was replaced as minister for Foreign Affairs by Keke.

References

* * {{Nauruan political parties Political parties in Nauru Political parties established in 2003 2003 establishments in Nauru Christian democratic parties in Oceania Liberal parties in Oceania