President of Nauru
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 Constituency
in the
Parliament of Nauru
at the
2004 elections
. Having served as Minister for Telecommunications in
Marcus Stephen
's government from 2009, Dabwido joined the Nauruan opposition faction in November 2011 after Stephen's resignation, and, having passed a
motion of no confidence
against interim president
Freddie Pitcher
, was elected president four days later. In his role as president, Dabwido functioned as chairman of the
Cabinet of Nauru
, and held various portfolios in the Nauruan government.
Weightlifting career
[
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]
Prior to entering politics, Dabwido was a weightlifter. He was the national champion of Nauru in weightlifting in 1995 and 1996. He also represented Nauru internationally winning a silver medal for his country at the 1995 Samoa Games and competed at the
1995 World Weightlifting Championships
in the super heavyweight category.
[3]
Political career
[
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]
The second son of former parliamentarian
Audi Dabwido
, Dabwido worked in public insurance before entering politics.
[2]
He was a founding member of the
Naoero Amo
party, and was elected to the
Parliament of Nauru
at the
2004 elections
, defeating
Nimrod Botelanga
to win the seat of
Meneng
. Re-elected at the
2007
and
2008 elections
, he became a member of the parliamentary faction supporting President
Marcus Stephen
, and was made Minister for Telecommunications in Stephen's government in 2009 where he presided over the introduction of
mobile phones
to Nauru.
[4]
Again re-elected at the
2010 elections
,
[5]
Dabwido joined the opposition faction in November 2011 when Stephen resigned as president to be succeeded by
Freddie Pitcher
.
[6]
[7]
President of Nauru
[
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]
After a
motion of no confidence
against Pitcher, Dabwido was elected president by the parliament, with nine votes supporting his nomination and eight votes opposing.
[6]
Dabwido's first major international meeting as president was at the
2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference
in
Durban
,
South Africa
, as a representative of the
Pacific Islands
grouping of
Small Island Developing States
(SIDS). In his speech during the opening plenary, he evaluated the potential problems faced by islands in the
Pacific Ocean
resulting from
rising sea levels
. Reiterating the SIDS objective for the reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions
in order to prevent further global
climate change
, Dabwido called for the development of a legally binding protocol alongside the
Kyoto Protocol
, with reference to "mitigation actions for
developing countries
" and the
Bali Action Plan
.
[8]
He supported the re-opening of the Australian-tax-payer-funded
asylum seeker
processing centre in Nauru, which is supported by the opposition
Liberal Party of Australia
but opposed by the governing
Australian Labor Party
.
[9]
In June 2012, Dabwido sacked his cabinet after seven months in office, citing difficulty in passing the Constitutional Amendment Parliamentary Amendments Bill, a proposed constitutional reform bill that would alter the number of members of parliament, introduce an Ombudsman Commission, and introduce a code of ethics for parliamentarians.
[10]
[11]
In his new Cabinet, he held the additional positions of Minister for Public Service, Minister for Police & Emergency Services, Minister for Home Affairs, and Minister for Climate Change.
[12]
On behalf of Nauru, Dabwido made his first address to the
United Nations General Assembly
during the
general debate
of its
sixty-seventh session
, in September 2012. During his speech, he urged the UN to address
climate change
more directly, as well as criticising the ineffectiveness of
multilateralism
.
[1]
Dabwido did not stand for re-election, and was replaced by
Baron Waqa
after the 2013 parliamentary elections.
[13]
Post-presidency
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After his presidency, Dabwido returned to the parliament and became part of the opposition and alleged the Nauru government of corruption and abuse of power while the government has accused him and other opposition parliamentarians of spreading "lies about the country" as a response with speaking with journalists based outside Nauru. In 2015, Dabwido and others held anti-government protests in front of the parliament and they were charged with rioting.
[14]
In the
2016 parliamentary election
, Dabwido lost his seat after failing re-election.
[15]
Those accused of rioting, including Dabwido, became involved in a court case known as "
Nauru 19
" and Dabwido were cleared of any wrongdoing in 2018 by the
Supreme Court of Nauru
.
[14]
In May 2018, Dabwido was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the Republic of Nauru Hospital.
[16]
Dabwido left for Australia to undergo treatment for his condition and also seek
political asylum
, claiming that the Nauru government was preventing him from leaving Nauru for treatment overseas.
[14]
The Nauru government has denied the claim, saying Dabwido was immediately accepted for fully funded overseas treatment for his condition.
[16]
In Australia, Dabwido rescinded his support for the Australian-funded asylum seeker processing center in Nauru and expressed his desire to have the facility cease operations; he also voiced support for the
Medevac Bill
.
[14]
Personal life
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Dabwido was in a
domestic partnership
with a woman named Luci. They had been in a relationship for at least eight years. The two became engaged when Dabwido proposed to Luci in the hospital where he was diagnosed with cancer. The two participated in a
commitment ceremony
in
Sydney
in 2019.
[14]
Illness and death
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]
In 2018, Dabwido was diagnosed with
throat cancer
.
[17]
He died from the disease on 8 May 2019, aged 46.
[18]
See also
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References
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