Palau

[johnloony]

There is going to be a general election in Palau on Tuesday 3rd November 2020. This includes:

"Election of the President (2nd round);
Election of the House of Delegates;
Election of the Senate.

- - - - - - - - -

(1) The election of the President is the 2nd round run-off between the top two candidates. The first round was on 22nd September 2020:

Surangel Whipps Jr. . . . 3,546 (46.3%)
Raynold Oilouch . . . . . 1,984 (25.9%)
Johnson Toribiong . . . . 1,145 (14.9%)
Alan R. Seid . . . . . . . . . . 983 (12.8%)
Total votes . . . . . . . . . . 7,658 (100.0%)

The President is elected for a 4-year term. A President is allowed to serve as many terms as he/she wishes, but is limited to two consecutive terms.
The outgoing President is Tommy Remengesau, who was President 2000-2008 and 2012-2020.

Surangel Whipps Jr. came 2nd in 2016; Raynold Oiluch is the incumbent Vice-President.
The result of the previous election in 2016 was:

Tommy Remengesau . . 5,109 (51.3%)
Surangel Whipps Jr. . . . 4,854 (48.7%)
Total votes . . . . . . . . . . 9,963 (100.0%)

- - - - - - - -

(2) The House of Delegates is also elected for a 4-year term. There are 16 members, elected from single-member constituencies by FPTP.

There is no information on either Wikipedia (here) or the Palau government's own website (here) about what the constituency boundaries are. My most recent copy of Whitaker's Almanac (2008) explicitly states that the constituency boundaries are the 16 federal states, but I think that is unlikely to be accurate because:

(a) the largest state is Koror, population 11,444 (according to the 2015 census)
(b) the second largest state is Airai, population 2,455
(c) the other 14 states have a total population of 3,452, with individual populations ranging from 484 to 25 (sic)

(So, either 1 MP represents 66% of the population and 15 MPs represent 34% of the population, or Whitaker's Almanac is incorrect).

- - - - - - - -

(3) The Senate has 11 members, elected at-large by the whole country by multiple-FPTP.
(The previous Senate elected in 2016 had 13 members.)

- - - - - - - -

There are no political parties in Palau, and all candidates are Independent.
The largest island (by area) is Babeldaob, which has 10 states.
The largest state (by population) is Koror, which is a cluster of islands to the south of Koror.
The other 5 states are small groups of more distant islands.

There is a map of the states here and a list of the states here.

In addition to the elected bodies, there is an advisory Council of Chiefs, with one tribal chief or elder from each state, which advises the President on traditional tribal customs and cultural matters.
Each state also has its own elected state legislature.
Other than all of that, the most exciting facts about the history of Palau politics are that:

(a) the first President was assassinated in 1985;
(b) the second elected President killed himself in office in 1988;
(c) the official languages are Palauan, English, Sonsorolese, Tobian and Japanese.

[yellowperil]

Oct 28, 2020 15:15:52 GMT johnloony said:

There is going to be a general election in Palau on Tuesday 3rd November 2020. This includes:

"Election of the President (2nd round);
Election of the House of Delegates;
Election of the Senate.

- - - - - - - - -

(1) The election of the President is the 2nd round run-off between the top two candidates. The first round was on 22nd September 2020:

Surangel Whipps Jr. . . . 3,546 (46.3%)
Raynold Oilouch . . . . . 1,984 (25.9%)
Johnson Toribiong . . . . 1,145 (14.9%)
Alan R. Seid . . . . . . . . . . 983 (12.8%)
Total votes . . . . . . . . . . 7,658 (100.0%)

The President is elected for a 4-year term. A President is allowed to serve as many terms as he/she wishes, but is limited to two consecutive terms.
The outgoing President is Tommy Remengesau, who was President 2000-2008 and 2012-2020.

Surangel Whipps Jr. came 2nd in 2016; Raynold Oiluch is the incumbent Vice-President.
The result of the previous election in 2016 was:

Tommy Remengesau . . 5,109 (51.3%)
Surangel Whipps Jr. . . . 4,854 (48.7%)
Total votes . . . . . . . . . . 9,963 (100.0%)

- - - - - - - -

(2) The House of Delegates is also elected for a 4-year term. There are 16 members, elected from single-member constituencies by FPTP.

There is no information on either Wikipedia (here) or the Palau government's own website (here) about what the constituency boundaries are. My most recent copy of Whitaker's Almanac (2008) explicitly states that the constituency boundaries are the 16 federal states, but I think that is unlikely to be accurate because:

(a) the largest state is Koror, population 11,444 (according to the 2015 census)
(b) the second largest state is Airai, population 2,455
(c) the other 14 states have a total population of 3,452, with individual populations ranging from 484 to 25 (sic)

(So, either 1 MP represents 66% of the population and 15 MPs represent 34% of the population, or Whitaker's Almanac is incorrect).

- - - - - - - -

(3) The Senate has 11 members, elected at-large by the whole country by multiple-FPTP.
(The previous Senate elected in 2016 had 13 members.)

- - - - - - - -

There are no political parties in Palau, and all candidates are Independent.
The largest island (by area) is Babeldaob, which has 10 states.
The largest state (by population) is Koror, which is a cluster of islands to the south of Koror.
The other 5 states are small groups of more distant islands.

There is a map of the states here and a list of the states here.

In addition to the elected bodies, there is an advisory Council of Chiefs, with one tribal chief or elder from each state, which advises the President on traditional tribal customs and cultural matters.
Each state also has its own elected state legislature.
Other than all of that, the most exciting facts about the history of Palau politics are that:

(a) the first President was assassinated in 1985;
(b) the second elected President killed himself in office in 1988;
(c) the official languages are Palauan, English, Sonsorolese, Tobian and Japanese.

Now that's what you call a real Presidential election, unlike the fake one going on elsewhere.    With those sorts of numbers and the lack of party politics it feels more like a parish council election than anything. Do share anything more you are able to unearth. 

[pl]

Oct 28, 2020 15:41:18 GMT yellowperil said:

Oct 28, 2020 15:15:52 GMT johnloony said:

There is going to be a general election in Palau on Tuesday 3rd November 2020. This includes:

"Election of the President (2nd round);
Election of the House of Delegates;
Election of the Senate.

- - - - - - - - -

(1) The election of the President is the 2nd round run-off between the top two candidates. The first round was on 22nd September 2020:

Surangel Whipps Jr. . . . 3,546 (46.3%)
Raynold Oilouch . . . . . 1,984 (25.9%)
Johnson Toribiong . . . . 1,145 (14.9%)
Alan R. Seid . . . . . . . . . . 983 (12.8%)
Total votes . . . . . . . . . . 7,658 (100.0%)

The President is elected for a 4-year term. A President is allowed to serve as many terms as he/she wishes, but is limited to two consecutive terms.
The outgoing President is Tommy Remengesau, who was President 2000-2008 and 2012-2020.

Surangel Whipps Jr. came 2nd in 2016; Raynold Oiluch is the incumbent Vice-President.
The result of the previous election in 2016 was:

Tommy Remengesau . . 5,109 (51.3%)
Surangel Whipps Jr. . . . 4,854 (48.7%)
Total votes . . . . . . . . . . 9,963 (100.0%)

- - - - - - - -

(2) The House of Delegates is also elected for a 4-year term. There are 16 members, elected from single-member constituencies by FPTP.

There is no information on either Wikipedia (here) or the Palau government's own website (here) about what the constituency boundaries are. My most recent copy of Whitaker's Almanac (2008) explicitly states that the constituency boundaries are the 16 federal states, but I think that is unlikely to be accurate because:

(a) the largest state is Koror, population 11,444 (according to the 2015 census)
(b) the second largest state is Airai, population 2,455
(c) the other 14 states have a total population of 3,452, with individual populations ranging from 484 to 25 (sic)

(So, either 1 MP represents 66% of the population and 15 MPs represent 34% of the population, or Whitaker's Almanac is incorrect).

- - - - - - - -

(3) The Senate has 11 members, elected at-large by the whole country by multiple-FPTP.
(The previous Senate elected in 2016 had 13 members.)

- - - - - - - -

There are no political parties in Palau, and all candidates are Independent.
The largest island (by area) is Babeldaob, which has 10 states.
The largest state (by population) is Koror, which is a cluster of islands to the south of Koror.
The other 5 states are small groups of more distant islands.

There is a map of the states here and a list of the states here.

In addition to the elected bodies, there is an advisory Council of Chiefs, with one tribal chief or elder from each state, which advises the President on traditional tribal customs and cultural matters.
Each state also has its own elected state legislature.
Other than all of that, the most exciting facts about the history of Palau politics are that:

(a) the first President was assassinated in 1985;
(b) the second elected President killed himself in office in 1988;
(c) the official languages are Palauan, English, Sonsorolese, Tobian and Japanese.

Now that's what you call a real Presidential election, unlike the fake one going on elsewhere.    With those sorts of numbers and the lack of party politics it feels more like a parish council election than anything. Do share anything more you are able to unearth. 

Indeed, the population in 2018 (latest numbers I have) was 17,807. That is lower than my old ward in London!

[yellowperil]

Oct 28, 2020 15:47:48 GMT pl said:

Oct 28, 2020 15:41:18 GMT yellowperil said:

Now that's what you call a real Presidential election, unlike the fake one going on elsewhere.    With those sorts of numbers and the lack of party politics it feels more like a parish council election than anything. Do share anything more you are able to unearth. 

Indeed, the population in 2018 (latest numbers I have) was 17,807. That is lower than my old ward in London!

I think it has now topped (gasp) 20k!

[pl]

Oct 28, 2020 16:03:31 GMT yellowperil said:

Oct 28, 2020 15:47:48 GMT pl said:

Indeed, the population in 2018 (latest numbers I have) was 17,807. That is lower than my old ward in London!

I think it has now topped (gasp) 20k!

Still smaller than my old ward! :-) And smaller than my current Parish too!

[minionofmidas]

Depopulation of the outer atolls had been ongoing for a while but a 2012 typhoon and evacuation seems to have been something of a final straw. At least by 2015 (the census), several formerly inhabited islands remained deserted. Not that the population was ever very large.

Constituencies are indeed based on states, see psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/p/palau/palau20162.txt

I take it from the vote totals that most residents of the two major towns remain registered at their ancestral home island or village.

[yellowperil]

Oct 28, 2020 16:06:25 GMT pl said:

Oct 28, 2020 16:03:31 GMT yellowperil said:

I think it has now topped (gasp) 20k!

Still smaller than my old ward! :-) And smaller than my current Parish too!

Palau I think ranks 191st by population  among the 193 members of the  UN. There are two even smaller (Tuvalu and Nauru), and of course one associated state without full UN membership that is smaller still (the Holy See). Now only the last named has a population even less than my parish.

[pl]

Oct 28, 2020 16:24:13 GMT yellowperil said:

Oct 28, 2020 16:06:25 GMT pl said:

Still smaller than my old ward! :-) And smaller than my current Parish too!

Palau I think ranks 191st by population  among the 193 members of the  UN. There are two even smaller (Tuvalu and Nauru), and of course one associated state without full UN membership that is smaller still (the Holy See). Now only the last named has a population even less than my parish.

Ahh... tiny countries at the UN. When I was a student in Vienna (a big UN site), I was let in on a big "secret"... lots of the representatives of small states on some UN committees were actually European/North American PhD students or NGO employees who pushed their own agenda while also putting forward the country's position. This meant that some of these states actually were rather more "activist" in a whole host of their positions than you might think. There was just no way they could afford to pay their own diplomats to actually do the work.

[johnloony]

I started this thread because a few days ago there was a news item on the BBC News channel about Palau, with someone being interviewed by Zoom. I don't think it was anything to do with the election; I think it was about Palau successfully keeping Covid out. But when the interviewee mentioned that the population was 20,000, it made me curious to think about what the area / population /geography / politics are like. When I looked it up to check, it was purely by coincidence that I discovered that the elections (once every four years) happen to be next week.

Palau used to be a U.S.A. Trust Territory, so I guess they just copied the USA timetable for elections.
One former President of Palau (from 1993 to 2001) was Kuniwo Nakamura (1943-2020), who, also by coincidence, died only 2 weeks ago. He was the son of a Japanese immigrant. Japan has a lot of history of investment in the economy and infrastructure of Palau, hence Japanese being one of the official languages.

[johnloony]

Oct 28, 2020 15:41:18 GMT yellowperil said:

Now that's what you call a real Presidential election, unlike the fake one going on elsewhere.    With those sorts of numbers and the lack of party politics it feels more like a parish council election than anything. Do share anything more you are able to unearth. 

With state populations as they are, it would have been mischievous if Palau had decided to use an electoral college with 16 block votes

[minionofmidas]

It's a former Japanese colony trust territory (between the wars). A convention for writing Palauan in katakana exists (though I doubt anybody does that now).

[John Chanin]

Oct 28, 2020 17:57:26 GMT minionofmidas said:

It's a former Japanese colony trust territory (between the wars). A convention for writing Palauan in katakana exists (though I doubt anybody does that now).

This has a good claim to be the obscurest piece of information ever posted on this site, against stiff competition.

[johnloony]

The average daily temperature in Palau varies between a very cold 27.3 degrees C in January to a swelteringly hot 28.1 degrees C in May.

[Georg Ebner]

Oct 28, 2020 15:15:52 GMT johnloony said:

(3) The Senate has 11 members, elected at-large by the whole country by multiple-FPTP.

What does "multiple FPTP" mean? 11 OneSeaters? Or 1 constituency with 11 seats and without RunOff? Or something between?

[Foggy]

Oct 29, 2020 19:14:40 GMT Georg Ebner said:

Oct 28, 2020 15:15:52 GMT johnloony said:

(3) The Senate has 11 members, elected at-large by the whole country by multiple-FPTP.

What does "multiple FPTP" mean? 11 OneSeaters? Or 1 constituency with 11 seats and without RunOff? Or something between?

"Elected at large by the whole country" means the entire national territory forms a single constituency, yes. 

Have you ever referred to the UK electoral system "multiple-FPTP" because there is more than one seat in the House of Commons?? It's clear enough that it means multi-member FPTP, as used in many wards in English and Welsh local elections. 

[johnloony]

I am imagining if Palau had an Electoral College for electing the President, instead of just the popular vote.
Assuming they copy the method used by the USA:
11 votes in the EC reflecting the Senate seats: 11 votes for whoever wins the popular vote nationally.
1 vote for each of the 16 states.
Total 27 votes in the EC.
Winner requires 14.
It would be a safeguard against the election being dominated by the most populous island (Koror) if Candidate A won the popular vote in the country, but Candidate B was ahead in 14 or 15 of the smaller states. Or, if each state had 2 votes in the Electoral College, then 11 out of 16 states (22 votes out of 43 in the Electoral College) would suffice.

- - - - -

Meanwhile, in the real world, polling closed at 7pm (10 am UK time) but the results might take a while to get the postal votes in from the islands.

[Chris from Brum]

Oct 30, 2020 2:17:58 GMT Foggy said:

Oct 29, 2020 19:14:40 GMT Georg Ebner said:

What does "multiple FPTP" mean? 11 OneSeaters? Or 1 constituency with 11 seats and without RunOff? Or something between?

"Elected at large by the whole country" means the entire national territory forms a single constituency, yes. 

Have you ever referred to the UK electoral system "multiple-FPTP" because there is more than one seat in the House of Commons?? It's clear enough that it means multi-member FPTP, as used in many wards in English and Welsh local elections. 

I'd call it "First x past the post" where x is the number of seats up for election.  FxPTP?

[Foggy]

Nov 3, 2020 14:07:47 GMT Chris from Brum said:

Oct 30, 2020 2:17:58 GMT Foggy said:

"Elected at large by the whole country" means the entire national territory forms a single constituency, yes. 

Have you ever referred to the UK electoral system "multiple-FPTP" because there is more than one seat in the House of Commons?? It's clear enough that it means multi-member FPTP, as used in many wards in English and Welsh local elections. 

I'd call it "First x past the post" where x is the number of seats up for election.  FxPTP?

I've realised that all possible similar terms fail to make the distinction between an election where you have as many votes as there are vacancies, and SNTV. 

Under both systems, the first x past the post are declared elected. Clearly there must be a way for us amateur psephologists to distinguish them!

[johnloony]

Nov 3, 2020 18:55:11 GMT Foggy said:

Nov 3, 2020 14:07:47 GMT Chris from Brum said:

I'd call it "First x past the post" where x is the number of seats up for election.  FxPTP?

I've realised that all possible similar terms fail to make the distinction between an election where you have as many votes as there are vacancies, and SNTV. 

Under both systems, the first x past the post are declared elected. Clearly there must be a way for us amateur psephologists to distinguish them!

MNTV: Multiple Non-Transferable Vote.

In the case of Palau, it could be called FSTFFSSENTAEPTP (First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth And Eleventh Past The Post).

[Foggy]

Nov 6, 2020 1:44:15 GMT johnloony said:

Nov 3, 2020 18:55:11 GMT Foggy said:

I've realised that all possible similar terms fail to make the distinction between an election where you have as many votes as there are vacancies, and SNTV. 

Under both systems, the first x past the post are declared elected. Clearly there must be a way for us amateur psephologists to distinguish them!

MNTV: Multiple Non-Transferable Vote.

In the case of Palau, it could be called FSTFFSSENTAEPTP (First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth And Eleventh Past The Post).

I think the former initialism would go down better in terms of an easily comprehensible reference!

Since I posted about that the other day, the confusion between FPTP and SNTV has resulted in jumbled media reporting of the proposed new Iraqi electoral system. (And I also note we don't seem to have an Iraq thread in either the 'International Elections' or 'General International Politics' section.)