FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu: Lawmakers in Tuvalu have selected Feleti Teo as the Pacific island nation's new prime minister, a top official told AFP on Monday, weeks after an election that has put ties with Taiwan in focus.
Former attorney general Teo secured the support of lawmakers who were elected last month, said government secretary Tufoua Panapa.
There has been speculation that Tuvalu – one of just 12 states that still formally recognise Taiwan – could consider establishing relations with Beijing.
Pacific observers will be looking to see whether Teo calls for a policy rethink.
Teo's elevation to prime minister comes after his predecessor, Kausea Natano, who had backed long-standing relations with Taipei, lost his seat in general elections.
Neighbouring Nauru recently severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favour of China, feeding rumours Tuvalu could follow.
Beijing has already poached some of Taiwan's Pacific allies, convincing Solomon Islands and Kiribati to switch recognition in 2019 before Nauru did the same.
Ahead of the election, Natano's finance minister, Seve Paeniu, floated the idea of Tuvalu reviewing its Taiwan ties.
Teo becomes prime minister exactly four weeks after general elections.
He is the first Tuvaluan prime minister to be nominated unopposed, according to lawmaker Simon Kofe.
Teo will be inaugurated with his cabinet ministers later this week, Kofe added in a social media post.
The selection had been delayed by persistent bad weather that left several MPs stranded on the nation's outer islands and unable to reach the capital.
Jess Marinaccio, an assistant professor in Pacific Studies at California State University, told AFP it was too early to say whether Teo, who had held a senior regional fisheries role until recently, would maintain ties with Taiwan.
"I don't think anybody knows, because he hasn't been in government for a long time," Marinaccio said.
"Attorney general was the last position he had before he started working internationally.
"The positions he has worked in were ones where he had to deal with countries which did and didn't have relations with Taiwan, so he has probably had to be fairly even about that.
"He couldn't express an opinion either way, so we don't have an idea whether he leans one way or the other."
Marinaccio said international relations would be high on the list of issues for Teo's new government.
"It will definitely be something they talk about. They also have to choose high commissioners and ambassadors, so Taiwan will be in there," she said.
"It will be a high priority, along with climate change and telecommunications, because the coverage in Tuvalu is not fantastic."--AFP
