Taom Tanukale is a

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( ) is an island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and Australia. It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands (which belong to the Solomon Islands), northeast of Van ...

an politician. He began his career in national politics when he was elected to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in a by-election in May 2005, as MP for Nui, following the death of his predecessor, Amasone Kilei. He joined

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Maatia Toafa Maatia Toafa (1 May 1954–13 November 2024) was a Tuvaluan politician, representing Nanumea, who served two non-consecutive terms as Prime Minister of Tuvalu. He first served as prime minister, and foreign minister, from 2004 to 2006, from th ...

's parliamentary majority, and was appointed acting Minister for Health and Education, "while the incumbent went overseas for long-term medical treatment". He failed to retain his seat in the August 2006 general election, but regained it in the September 2010 general election. In December of that year, Prime Minister Maatia Toafa was ousted in a

motion 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 ...

. Tanukale supported Toafa's opponent, Willy Telavi, who became Prime Minister and appointed him as Minister for Health. On 30 July 2013, as the government appeared to have lost its parliamentary majority and was about to face a

, Tanukale unexpectedly resigned from Parliament (and thus also from the government) altogether. The following day, the reason for his resignation became apparent. The Speaker,

Kamuta Latasi Sir Kamuta Latasi (born 4 September 1936) is a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu from Funafuti atoll. He was elected to the Parliament of Tuvalu in 1992. Latasi served as the 4th prime minister, and foreign minister, from 1993 ...

, rejected the Opposition's attempt to table a motion of no confidence, on the grounds that there was now a vacant seat in Parliament. Latasi adjourned Parliament, and ruled that it would not reconvene until a by-election had been held - thus prolonging Telavi's minority government. This tactic proved fruitless as

Governor General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

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 was not successful in that election, however he w ...

intervened on 1 August 2013 and removed Telavi from office, so as to enable Parliament to function. The following day, Parliament (minus Tanukale) formally brought down the government through 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 ...

. Taom Tanukale was a candidate in the 2013 Nui by-election, which was held on 10 September. Tanukale came third in the poll with 160 votes. Leneuoti Matusi was declared the winner, polling 297 of the 778 registered voters. Tanukale was a candidate in the 2015 Tuvaluan general election and received 53 votes, but was not elected to parliament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanukale, Taom Members of the Parliament of Tuvalu People from Nui (atoll) Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Health ministers of Tuvalu