Election of the Day: Cook Islands

Cook Islanders will, today, elect a new parliament. (The Cook Islands are a sovereign state in free association with New Zealand, which generally handles much, but not all, of their foreign affairs, but they are otherwise self-governing.) The Parliament of the Cook Islands is comprised of 24 seats, each elected in a single member district, FPTP vote. Given the modest population of the Cook Islands, the district size is well under 1000 people. The Cook Islands also have an upper house with limited powers. The role of the upper house filled by the House of Akiri, another 24 seat legislative body, comprised of the island’s hereditary High Chiefs, appointed by a representative of the King for a life tenure. However, while they still apparently fill some mostly ceremonial functions, they no longer have much by way of formal power, rendering the Cook Islands a functionally unicameral state. (I fell down a bit of a rabbit hole learning about a 2008 coup attempt lead by a bare majority of the House of Akiri, who had fallen under the spell of a Maori nationalist, Sydney-based funeral home director, and con-artist Bruce Mita, who promised them vast riches had they partnered with him in his scheme to harvest manganese nodules from Island seabeds. Parliament had rejected Mita’s scheme on the grounds that it was obviously not feasible. This coup attempt appears to have effectively resembled Michael Scott declaring bankruptcy: they announced they were dissolving the elected government and seizing control, everyone just ignored them and went about their lives, and the whole thing was eventually quietly dropped. Little is known about Bruce Mita’s activity since then, but he appears to be on linkedin, listing his job as a diplomatic representative for the Chiefs.)

Anyway, back to the election. Cook Islands seem to have a multi-party system, with the largest party, the Cook Islands Party, (nationalist, center-right) currently holding 12/24 seats. The Democrats, and center-left party, have 5 seats; the rest of the seats are held by independents and small parties that broke off from the Cook Islands Party. Coverage of this election appears pretty thin. There’s one interesting story (From a Turkish news agency associated with Erdogan and his party, so apply as large a grain of salt as you deem appropriate) about the international implications:

The election comes after an unusually turbulent period in the Cook Islands’ foreign relations, driven by Prime Minister Mark Brown’s effort to broaden the country’s international partnerships, most controversially through a comprehensive strategic partnership with Beijing.

The election comes after an unusually turbulent period in the Cook Islands’ foreign relations, driven by Prime Minister Mark Brown’s effort to broaden the country’s international partnerships, most controversially through a comprehensive strategic partnership with Beijing.

RNZ reported at the time that New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon stressed the expectation that the two governments would consult transparently on matters touching defense and security. Brown rejected suggestions that his government was acting secretly and said its international agreements would serve Cook Islands interests.

Hundreds of people subsequently protested in Rarotonga amid concerns about the China agreement and a separate, later-abandoned proposal for a Cook Islands passport. The government maintained that closer relations with Beijing were intended to complement rather than replace its established relationships with New Zealand, Australia and other partners.

For its tiny population, the seabed natural resource rights of the Cook Islands are substantial. This election will likely be closely watched not just in Wellington, but Beijing and Washington as well.