| Country: | Kiribati |
| Type: | presidential |
| Previous Election: | 1987 Kiribati presidential election |
| Previous Year: | 1987 |
| Next Election: | 1994 Kiribati presidential election |
| Next Year: | 1994 |
| Election Date: | 3 July 1991 |
| Turnout: | 73.7% (4.6pp) |
| Image1: | File:Teatao Teannaki 2014 (cropped).jpg |
| Popular Vote1: | 10,123 |
| Percentage1: | 46.31% |
| Popular Vote2: | 9,162 |
| Percentage2: | 41.91% |
| Popular Vote3: | 1,581 |
| Percentage3: | 7.23% |
| Colour1: | dcdcdc |
| Colour2: | dcdcdc |
| Colour3: | dcdcdc |
| President | |
| Before Election: | Ieremia Tabai |
| After Election: | Teatao Teannaki |
| Candidate1: | Teatao Teannaki |
| Candidate2: | Roniti Teiwaki |
| Candidate3: | Beniamina Tinga |
| 1Data1: | Abaiang |
| Image3: | 3x4.svg |
| 1Data3: | Nikunau |
Presidential elections were held in Kiribati on 3 July 1991. Vice-President Teatao Teannaki of the National Progressive Party (NPP) was elected with 46.31% of the vote, defeating his opponent Roniti Teiwaki of Te Waaki ae Boou.
Incumbent president Ieremia Tabai was term limited, making this the first presidential election in which he was not a candidate. The House of Assembly chose which four of its members would stand for election, and collaboration between Tabai's NPP and the unaffiliated Te Waaki ae Boou faction gave the two groups full control of the ballot. In addition to their respective candidates, they nominated two placeholder candidates to fill the ballot and block access to other factions: Boanareke Boanareke for the NPP and Beniamina Tinga for Te Waaki ae Boou. Taomati Iuta, Babera Kirata, Teburoro Tito, and Tewareka Tentoa, all of whom had previously run, were considered potential candidates for their respective factions but failed to make it on the ballot.
The campaign issues were primarily economic, diverging from the polarising scandals of previous presidential elections. The nation's Catholic–Protestant divide also had a lessened effect, as both of the main candidates were Catholic. Teannaki, campaigning on the continuation of Tabai's policies, benefited from the NPP's institutional strength relative to the loosely organised Te Waaki Ae Boou faction. Teiwaki promised voters that he would shift away from Tabai's policy of frugality in favour of greater salaries and subsidies.
Incumbent president Ieremia Tabai was re-elected in the 1987 presidential election. The election brought him to his term limit, making him ineligible for the 1991 election. Tabai's government came under scrutiny in the late 1980s as government funds went missing. Tabai's finance minister Teatao Teannaki said that poor accounting had allowed money to go toward unapproved development projects, and an audit found that government funds had been subject to fraud and embezzlement.
In the years leading up to the 1991 election, the opposition attacked Tabai's government for its handling of the economy. They criticised its running the unprofitable state airline Air Tungaru, the decrease in the nation's reserve fund after Black Tuesday, the government's refusal to use the reserve fund to start additional development projects, and its acceptance of foreign aid despite a stated policy of self-sufficiency.
Tabai's supporters joined together as the National Progressive Party (NPP) for the 1991 parliamentary election. Unlike other political parties in Kiribati, the NPP was a formal organisation with its own constitution. They competed against the Social Democracy Party (SDP) and Reitan Kiribati. The SDP was created by the opposition as a successor to the Christian Democratic Party and ERIKO. Reitan Kiribati was an affiliation of independent members created to counteract partisanship.
The parliamentary elections were overshadowed by speculation about who would succeed Tabai. While Tabai's government retained a plurality following the election, the government, the opposition, and Reitan Kiribati saw losses to unaffiliated candidates. Several new members of parliament formed their own party, Te Waaki ae Boou, and they aligned with the NPP. In response, the SDP and Reitan Kiribati formed an alliance.
Before the new parliament was elected, there were six major contenders: pro-government figures Teatao Teannaki, Taomati Iuta, and Babera Kirata, opposition leader Teburoro Tito, independent faction leader Tewareka Tentoa, and unaffiliated member of parliament Roniti Teiwaki. This was the first presidential election in which Tabai was not a candidate.
Teannaki was a member of parliament for Abaiang, and he was Tabai's vice-president and minister of finance. He was Catholic, meaning that his candidacy could reach Catholic voters that traditionally voted against Tabai's government. Teannaki had been a candidate in the 1982, 1983, and 1987 elections.
Teiwaki was a member of parliament for the Teinainano Urban Council constituency. He had been a member of parliament until he left in 1982, but he returned following his victory in a 1990 by-election. Teiwaki was not affiliated with the major political parties, instead aligning with Te Waaki ae Boou. He had been a candidate in the 1978 election.
Kirata was a member of parliament for Onotoa, and he had been a candidate in the 1978 election. Tito was a member of parliament for the Teinainano Urban Council constituency in South Tarawa; he was the leader of the opposition, and he had been a candidate in the 1987 election. Iuta was a member of parliament for Beru; he served in Tabai's government as the minister of natural resource development, and he had been a candidate in the 1978 election. Tentoa was a member of parliament for Onotoa; he led Reitan Kiribati, a group of independents who aligned with one another.
Parliament voted to decide which four of its members would appear on the presidential ballot. To maximise their chances, each of the four parliamentary factions nominated two candidates—their preferred choice and an extra—for a total of eight nominees. The selection of a new pro-government candidate proved difficult for the NPP. The strongest contender, Kirata, had died days before the parliamentary election. The NPP ultimately chose Teannaki as its main candidate, Te Waaki ae Boou chose Teiwaki, the SDP chose Tito, and Reitan Kiribati chose Tentoa.
Voting together, the NPP and Te Waaki ae Boou collectively had a majority in parliament with 28 of the 41 seats, giving them full control over the ballot. Teannaki and Teiwaki became the two main candidates, with the NPP's Boanareke Boanareke and Te Waaki ae Boou's Beniamina Tinga filling out the remaining two spots to block access to the other factions.
Economic issues dominated the campaign. These included copra prices, cost of living, development projects, wages, and the availability of government services. The opposition challenged the government on its accounting discrepancies, its control over the media, and its use of the reserve fund. Specific to South Tarawa was the issue of urbanisation and its negative effect on the city's native population. There were no polarising controversies dividing the nation in 1991. This was a contrast from the elections of the 1980s, which were plagued by labour strikes, a controversial fishing rights agreement with the Soviet Union, and questions over Tabai's eligibility for re-election.
Teannaki and Teiwaki both campaigned in the northern and central islands while ignoring the historically pro-government southern islands. Boanareke and Tinga did not campaign, as they were only running to fill the ballot. Both Teannaki and Teiwaki were Catholic, so the nation's religious divide became less important than in previous elections.
The strong institutional nature of the NPP meant that it played a large role in Teannaki's campaign. He touted the economic record of Tabai's government and campaigned on a continuation of Tabai's policies. The campaign benefited immensely from the support of an organised party with seasoned politicians to guide the campaign. Tabai helped by campaigning in South Tarawa, his popularity meaning that a significant advantage came with his endorsement.
Teiwaki campaigned on a change from the previous government. Instead of Tabai's policies of frugality and self-sufficiency, Teiwaki advocated lowering taxes while raising salaries and subsidies to improve quality of life. He appealed specifically to northern voters, but he opted not to appeal to political parties during his campaign, believing that individual personalities were a larger factor in the politics of Kiribati. Teiwaki believed that Tabai's absence from the ballot would create opportunities for another party to take power, and he hoped that his own work with Tabai's government would win him favour among voters.
The election was held on 3 July, and turnout was 73.7% of registered voters. The results were announced by Radio Tarawa approximately six hours after polls closed. Teannaki won with 46.3% of the vote, although his percentage was lower than all four of Tabai's elections. Teiwaki received 41.9%. Teannaki performed well in the southern islands and Teiwaki in the northern islands, as expected, but both were by closer margins than the 1987 election.
| Boanareke | Teiwaki | Teannaki | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abaiang | 55 | 33 | 227 | 1,235 | 1,550 | |
| Abemama | 64 | 38 | 443 | 414 | 959 | |
| Aranuka | 8 | 7 | 79 | 222 | 420 | |
| Arorae | 9 | 17 | 82 | 604 | 712 | |
| Banaba | 11 | 9 | 30 | 57 | 107 | |
| Beru | 81 | 88 | 370 | 471 | 1,010 | |
| Betio | 124 | 64 | 978 | 1,027 | 2,193 | |
| Butaritari | 19 | 34 | 936 | 371 | 1,360 | |
| Kiritimati | 85 | 62 | 355 | 181 | 683 | |
| Kuria | 26 | 31 | 142 | 221 | 420 | |
| Maiana | 55 | 54 | 325 | 451 | 885 | |
| Makin | 7 | 26 | 296 | 184 | 513 | |
| Marakei | 23 | 18 | 639 | 257 | 936 | |
| Nikunau | 442 | 17 | 156 | 168 | 783 | |
| Nonouti | 35 | 28 | 408 | 556 | 1,027 | |
| North Tarawa | 31 | 20 | 622 | 419 | 1,092 | |
| Onotoa | 84 | 50 | 173 | 544 | 851 | |
| Tabiteuea North | 86 | 50 | 173 | 544 | 851 | |
| Tabiteuea South | 27 | 41 | 381 | 164 | 613 | |
| Tabuaeran | 13 | 47 | 173 | 203 | 436 | |
| Tamana | 3 | 54 | 254 | 271 | 582 | |
| 261 | 141 | 1,586 | 1,311 | 3,299 | ||
| Teraina | 32 | 59 | 145 | 187 | 423 | |
| Total | 1,581 | 994 | 9,162 | 10,123 | 21,860 |
The NPP's success in electing Teannaki indicated a growing importance of centralised political parties in Kiribati. After their defeat, the SDP, Reitan Kiribati, and Te Waaki ae Boou unified as the Maneaba Party as led by Teiwaki. When Teannaki became president, he appointed Iuta as vice-president and minister of finance. Tabai also received a ministry position, but he left the government to serve as secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum. Teannaki's presidency ended in 1994 after he was ousted with a motion of no confidence. He then defeated by Tito in the subsequent election.