Protect the Maneaba (, MTM), initially known as the Christian Democratic Party, was a

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, ...

Kiribati Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of the 2020 census, and more than half live on Tarawa. The st ...

History

The party was established as the Christian Democratic Party in 1985 by members of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

opposed to president

Ieremia Tabai Ieremia Tienang Tabai (born 16 December 1949) is an I-Kiribati politician who served as the first president of Kiribati from 1979 to 1991. He previously served in the equivalent role, chief minister, under the colonial government from 1978 ...

. By 1994 it had been renamed Protect the Maneaba, and was a loose grouping of MPs led by

Roniti Teiwaki Roniti Teiwaki is an I-Kiribati politician. After the 1974 general election, he became member of the Cabinet of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands of Naboua Ratieta as Minister of Education, Training and Culture, then confirmed from March 1978 ...

. In the 1994 parliamentary elections it won 13 of the 39 seats. In the subsequent

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The ...

two months later, MTM's

Teburoro Tito Teburoro Tito (born 25 August 1953) is an I-Kiribati politician and diplomat who served as the third president of Kiribati from 1994 to 2003. Early life Teburoro Tito was born in Tanaeang, a village in Tabiteuea North, on 25 August 1952 or 1953. ...

was elected president. In the 1998 parliamentary elections the party won 14 seats, with Tito re-elected president two months later. By the late 1990s the party had two dominant factions, a Christian-Democratic faction led by Tito and a liberal faction led by

Tewareka Tentoa Tewareka Tentoa (died November 3, 2000) was an I-Kiribati politician who served as the vice president of Kiribati for two terms from 1994 to 2000 under President Teburoro Tito. Tentoa was from Onotoa in the Gilbert Islands The Gilbert Islands ...

. The party was reduced to only seven seats in the 2002 parliamentary elections, but Tito was re-elected as president in February 2003. However, the government losing a vote on the supplementary budget by a vote of 21–19 in March 2003 led to early parliamentary elections in May. Although MTM won 24 of the 40 seats, in the subsequent

in July, MTM candidate

Harry Tong Doctor (title), Dr. Harry Tong (), is an I-Kiribati politician with Chinese people, Chinese heritage. He was first elected to the House of Assembly of Kiribati in 1983, representing the constituency of South Tarawa, the country's capital. He was ...

lost to his brother Anote. The party was subsequently reduced to only seven seats in the 2007 parliamentary elections, and did not nominate a candidate for the

. In August 2010 it merged with the Kiribati Independent Party to form the

United Coalition Party The United Coalition Party, also known as the Improving I-Kiribati Welfare Party (; KTK), was a political party in Kiribati. History The party was established in August 2010 as a merger of the Kiribati Independent Party and Protect the Maneaba.To ...

References

Defunct political parties in Kiribati Political parties established in 1985 1985 establishments in Kiribati Political parties disestablished in 2010 2010 disestablishments in Kiribati {{Oceania-party-stub