Kamuta Latasi

Sir Kamuta Latasi KCMG , OBE , PC , (* 1936 ) is a politician from Tuvalu and former prime minister .

Prime Minister 1993 to 1996

The large landowner has been a representative of Funafuti at the meeting house (Fale i Fono) for many years . His wife Naama Mateu Latasi was also a member of the meeting house at times.

On December 12, 1993, he won the election of prime minister against incumbent Bikenibeu Paeniu . On December 23, 1996 he was again defeated by Paeniu.

As a politician, he was an advocate of republican tendencies , which put him at a certain distance from the British crown . This was evident during his tenure in a controversial discussion about the design of the Tuvalu flag . In 1995, the flag introduced in 1978 was replaced by a new one that was not based on the British one but also showed the islands as stars. Since this flag was never properly adopted by the population, a slightly modified version of the old one was introduced in 1997.

Speaker of Parliament and Awards

After the August 2006 election, he was elected House Speaker of the Assembly House.

He has received several awards for his services to the politics of Tuvalu. In particular, he was appointed officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II . He was also appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George and accepted into the Privy Council .

Web links and background literature

personal data
SURNAME	Latasi, Kamuta
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Tuvaluan politician, Prime Minister of Tuvalu
DATE OF BIRTH	1936