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. In 1971, Tito received a government scholarship to attend the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. He was the president of the students' association in 1976 and 1977. Tito graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science and a Certificate in Education. Afterwards, he stayed at the university until 1979 as the student coordinator.

Early political career

In 1980, Tito returned to Kiribati and became a Scholarship Officer for the Ministry of Education. In 1982, he went on a thirty-day study tour in the US "for future leaders." Tito served as Senior Education Officer from 1983 to 1987. Tito, a keen soccer player, also chaired the Kiribati Football Association from 1980 to 1994.

In March 1987, Tito was elected as member of parliament for the Teinainano Urban Council constituency in South Tarawa. In the presidential election later that year, Tito was one of three final candidates. Opposition leader Harry Tong had originally been considered as a candidate, but he stepped aside in favour of Tito. The other two candidates, Ieremia Tabai and Teatao Teannaki, were the incumbent president and vice-president.

Tito built a reputation as "an energetic, highly articulate man" and, as a Catholic candidate, garnered the favour of Catholic voters, who formed much of the opposition to Tabai's government. Both Tabai and Tito limited their campaigning to the islands where they were most popular—Tabai in the south and Tito in the north—forgoing any attempt to garner votes from the other candidate's strongholds. Tito lost to Tabai, but received the highest vote share for any opponent of Tabai's government since independence with 42.7%. It was speculated that Teannaki, an ally of Tabai, split the Catholic vote in a way that made him a spoiler candidate for Tito.

As part of the Christian Democratic Party (MTM), Tito became opposition leader until 1990, when he served as deputy leader until 1994. Tito was also a member of the Public Accounts Committee from 1987 to 1990 and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Executive Committee from 1988 to 1989, attending overseas conferences and meetings.

Presidency

19941998

In 1994, Tito and three other candidates, all from the MTM, were nominated for the presidential election. There had been claims of misconduct against the outgoing government, and a brief constitutional crisis ensued when acting president Tekiree Tamuera was forcibly removed. Tito won the election in a landslide victory with 51% of the votes.

Tito has called attention to the detrimental effects of global warming on Pacific Island nations. He has complained that large countries do not do enough to offset their contributions to climate change, while small countries such as Kiribati suffer the effects. He compared the situation to ants on a leaf being bothered by elephants roughhousing in the pond. "The problem isn't the ants' behavior utof how to convince the elephants to be more gentle." Still, Tito is sceptical of scientists and politicians who say that rising sea levels will inevitably submerge Kiribati, citing Genesis 9:11.

The International Date Line used to run through Kiribati. Fulfilling a campaign promise, Tito declared that the Date Line would run along his country's eastern border effective 1 January 1995. This made the Line Islands of Kiribati the first region in the world to see the new day. The decision attracted little attention until other Pacific countries disputed the claim after the millennium celebrations approached. Other Pacific nations tried to move the Date Line, temporarily implement daylight saving time, and claim the "first territory", "first land", "first inhabited land" or "first city" to enter 2000.

19982002

The Christian Democratic Party and the main opposition both lost seats in the 1998 parliamentary election. On 27 November, Tito was re-elected with 52% of the vote, while Harry Tong received only 46%.

On 14 April 1999, Tito wrote a letter requesting Kiribati's admission to the United Nations, which was accepted. Tito attended the millennium celebrations on Caroline Island, which the government had renamed Millennium Island. As the easternmost of the Line Islands, Caroline would be the first place in the world to enter 1 January 2000. ''BBC News''' Mike Donkin reported that Tito spoke with emotion as his country found itself at the centre of attention. "Our elders tell us that in our ancient myths and legends these islands were where creation began," Tito said. "This particular moment in history seems to confirm the mythology of our ancestors."

20022003

In February 2003, Tito was re-elected over Taberannang Timeon by 547 votes. A major election issue was the Chinese satellite tracking station on Tarawa

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