Kiribati president keeps seat in election's first stage

Kiribati's parliament is scheduled to sit on September 13 for newly declared MPs to select a shortlist of candidates for president, who will be decided in a direct vote by the population later in the year.

A nation of 115,000 residents, Kiribati is considered strategic despite being small, because it is relatively close to Hawaii and controls more than 3.5 million square kilometres of Pacific Ocean.

Under Maamau's presidency, Kiribati has drawn closer to China after switching ties from Taiwan in 2019.