6th Prime Minister of the Cook Islands
Sir Terepai Tuamure Maoate
KBE
(1 September 1934 ? 9 July 2012) was
Prime Minister of the Cook Islands
from 18 November 1999 to 11 February 2002. He was a member of the
Cook Islands Democratic Party
.
Maoate was born in
Rarotonga
on 1 September 1934, and educated at Ngatangiia Primary School,
Fiji School of Medicine
, and the
University of Auckland
(New Zealand). He worked as a medical doctor before becoming Director of Clinical Services for the Ministry of Health in 1976.
[1]
Maoate was elected to the
Cook Islands Parliament
as MP for Ngatangiia in the
March 1983 general election
. He subsequently served as Minister of Health and Agriculture in the Democratic cabinet of
Tom Davis
, and between 1985 and 1989 was also
Deputy Prime Minister
.
[1]
In 1998, Maoate became Leader of the Democratic party and Leader of the Opposition. The
1999 election
produced a
hung Parliament
, and following several coalition realignments, Maoate became Prime Minister.
[2]
He was ousted by his former Deputy Prime Minister
Robert Woonton
on 11 February 2002,
[3]
and subsequently became Leader of the Opposition.
In early 2003 the Democratic Party re-merged,
[4]
and Maoate was reappointed to cabinet, replacing
Cook Islands Party
leader Geoffrey Henry as Deputy Prime Minister.
[5]
However the arrangement did not last, with Maoate resigning
[6]
and tabling a motion of no-confidence in the government in November.
[7]
Continued factional infighting saw Maoate fail to become Prime Minister after the
2004 elections
, when a group of Democratic Party MPs split to back
Jim Marurai
. However, a coalition realignment in 2005 saw Maoate reappointed as Deputy Prime Minister again.
[8]
In July 2009, he was given the additional position of Foreign Minister.
In December 2009 Maoate was sacked as Deputy Prime Minister in favour of
Robert Wigmore
, sparking a mass-resignation of Democratic Party cabinet members
[9]
[10]
and the withdrawal of support for the government.
[11]
He was subsequently replaced as Democratic Party leader by Wigmore in June 2010.
[12]
In September 2010 he failed to be reselected for his Ngatangiia seat after losing a run-off.
[13]
He subsequently decided to run as an independent,
[14]
but was unsuccessful.
[15]
Maoate was knighted in 2007.
[16]
Maoate died on 9 July 2012 aged 77.
[17]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
- Profile
at Cook Islands Parliament.
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Leader of Government Business
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Premier
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Prime Minister
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Leaders
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Current Members of Parliament
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Related articles
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