National

High hopes for Mangaia Gold

The agriculture development unit of Mangaia Island Administration yesterday harvested a crop of cultured pineapples branded ‘Mangaia Gold’. The pineapple project was a joint effort between the Cook Islands Ministry of Agriculture, the Mangaia Island Administration (MIA) and the Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which provided funding as part of the ‘Fruit Trees Development Project’ […]

La Railleuse welcomes kids aboard

Avatea students were this week invited aboard the 55-metre patrol boat La Railleuse to look around and meet the French Marine Nationale sailors who just returned from a week-long mission to the High Sea Pocket. Captain Blonce Alexandre, four officers, 18 petty officers and a number of seamen aboard the French navy vessel just returned […]

GENERAL ELECTION PRELIMINARY RESULTS

CIP's Kiriau Turepu takes Matavera

Another Democratic Party seat fell to the CIP as Cassey Eggelton lost Matavera to Kiriau Turepu. Turepu and his supporters, pictured here, were in an uproarious mood after the win, leaping and punching the air as the results were announced. In one of the few seats without independents or candidates from non-traditional parties, Turepu polled […]

Who won – at a glance

Tupapa-Maraerenga CIP’s George Maggie Angene shut his critics up as he pulled away to a resounding victory, clearing away from the rest of the pack with 386 votes. His nearest rival was Demo’s Nooroa Tupa who got 241. Sitting MP John Tangi who stood as an independent got a mere 82 votes. Takuvaine-Tutakimoa Mark Brown […]

Marsters back and ahead

Leader of the opposition Tom Marsters has retained his seat with 171 of the 408 votes cast in the Murienua electorate. Closest rival James Beer, of the Democratic Party, received 118 votes according to preliminary results announced last night. Murienua’s result was the last to be counted, giving the Cook Islands Party 15 seats to […]

Support but no seats for independents

Some of the independent candidates scored a surprising number of votes at the election, despite not winning any of the 13 seats they were vying for. Nikao independent Philip Nicholas secured the most votes out of the independents with 162 votes. He wasn’t too disappointed with the result. Tupapa-Maraerenga independent Tim Arnold was perhaps the […]

Wigmore trumps rivals

Democratic Party leader Robert Wigmore was in a jubilant mood after sweeping back in to the Titikaveka seat with a convincing win. Wigmore polled 293 against the Cook Islands Party’s 204. The independent candidates failed to have an impact in this seat – following the pattern across the nation – with Teariki Matenga polling 80 […]

Crushing Demo defeat

2 cabinet ministers dumped, Rasmussen ahead by 2 votes Democratic Party leader Robert Wigmore is not yet accepting defeat saying the battle to win seats is not over yet. The party now holds on to just 8 seats of the 24 seats in parliament. The results seem to mirror the 2006 election results in reverse […]

New MP wants to unite electorate

RAPPA CIP candidate John Henry believes that his character was the reason people voted for him and not the party. The mood was relaxed in his camp after he was announced the winner of the Avatiu-Ruatonga-Palmerston seat. Henry had 237 votes – 107 votes more than Party Tumu candidate Albert Peto Nicholas (130 votes) while […]

Mark Brown brings 'fresh blood'

The marquee behind FBI erupted in cheers and shrieks of joy as scores of Takuvaine and Tutakimoa residents learned of Cook Islands Party candidate Mark Brown’s victory. Supporters and friends rushed to congratulate Brown, bubbling over with enthusiasm – one supporter couldn’t contain his excitement, repeating the mantra “I’m so happy, I’m so happy, I’m […]

Marurai denies he called the Demo defeat

It seems Mangaia MP and outgoing PM Jim Marurai may have called the Democratic Party’s defeat just prior to voters going to the polls. However, he has now claimed he was misquoted in a Radio Australia report yesterday that said he expected the party to be defeated at the election. Marurai won back his seat […]

Upbeat start

Winner of the Tupapa seat George Maggie was one of the first people to cast his vote when the polling station at the Aotearoa Centre in Tupapa opened yesterday. Maggie was in buoyant mood as he cast his vote in the seat he went on to win by 145 more votes more than his closest […]

Marurai happy with his win

Outgoing PM and Mangaia MP Jim Marurai was happy to be re-elected yesterday despite predicting the Demo Party’s fall from grace. Marurai will now have to pass the prime ministership on to the CIP and not party leader Robert Wigmore as the party had hoped. Meanwhile, Marurai won his seat 60 votes to CIP’s Moe […]

Sir Terepai splits vote and loses

The Cook Islands Party’s Atatoa Herman took advantage of the split Democratic Party supporters to win the seat of Ngatangiia. The actions of Sir Terepai Maoate (above) in separating from the party and running as an independent after losing a run off left the field wide open for the Cook Islands Party candidate. Herman won […]

Maggie never in doubt

Kua akaei kotou iaku – you have adorned me with your ei. These were the words of winning Tupapa CIP candidate George Maggie Angene after he was announced the winner of the seat. In Maori he told his supporters at the Tupapa Centre that his success was not from the past three months of campaigning […]

Police deal with dispute

Tensions ran high over polling in Ngatangiia yesterday. According to Mann Short’s campaign chairman Steven Peyroux, the Ngatangiia Demo camp had to tell police that opposition supporters were hanging around the polling station. One voter said that they were approached by a supporter of independent candidate Sir Terepai Maoate while looking for their name on […]

Major catering for election day

Regardless of results, an epic kaikai was guaranteed for all those involved in yesterday’s general election at the various functions held in every Rarotonga village, as well as on outer islands, throughout the day and night. Winners, losers, and those in between gathered at homes, meeting houses, shops, resorts, and other establishments to celebrate, commiserate, […]

Forum team to observe election

A team of six observers representing the Pacific Islands Forum is in the country to observe today’s General Election. The team arrived in the country last Thursday and has been talking to a number of relevant people and stakeholders. The team has already met with senior government officials from the Cook Islands Ministry of Foreign […]

Tackle the basics first, please

Dear Editor, Whatever the makeup of the new government once the country’s general elections are held tomorrow, I just hope that more attention and effort will be placed on developing and improving the country’s basic infrastructure. For far too long the country’s basic infrastructure has been ignored and neglected by successive governments, leading to a […]