A former attorney general has been named the new prime minister following a general election that ousted the island's pro-Taiwan leaders.
Tuvalu's parliamentarians have nominated former attorney general Feleti Teo as the Pacific island nation's new prime minister, weeks after a general election that put relations with Taiwan in the spotlight.
The Tuvalu government said in a statement on Monday that Teo was the only candidate nominated by 15 of his fellow MPs and was declared the winner without a vote.
The swearing-in ceremony for Mr Teo and his cabinet members is expected to take place later this week.
Teo's promotion to prime minister comes after his pro-Taiwan predecessor, Kausea Natano, lost his seat in the January 26 election.
Mr. Natano had hoped that Tuvalu, with a population of about 11,200, would remain one of only 12 countries with formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, an autonomous island that China claims as its territory. .
Seve Paeniu, Natano's former finance minister and seen as a potential leadership candidate, said the issue of diplomatic recognition of Taiwan and China should be discussed by the new government.
The comments raised concerns in Taiwan, particularly after Tuvalu's neighbor Nauru recently severed diplomatic ties with Taipei in favor of China, which had promised more development aid.
Some members of Tuvalu's parliament have also called for a review of a wide-ranging defense and immigration agreement signed with Australia in November. The agreement allows Canberra to scrutinize Tuvalu's cooperation with other countries on police, ports and communications in exchange for defense guarantees and allowing nationals threatened by rising sea levels to migrate to Australia. become.
The agreement is seen as aimed at curbing China's growing influence as an infrastructure provider in the Pacific Islands.
Mr Teo's positions on relations with Taiwan and Australia's security and immigration agreements have not been made public.
Mr Teo, who was educated in New Zealand and Australia, was Tuvalu's first attorney general and has decades of experience as a senior official in the seafood industry, the region's biggest source of income.
Tuvaluan MP Simon Kofe congratulated Teo in a social media post.
“This is the first time in our country's history that a prime minister has been appointed without a vote,” he said.
The appointment of a new prime minister was delayed by prolonged bad weather, with several MPs stranded on the country's remote islands and unable to reach the capital.
Jess Marinacio, an assistant professor of Pacific studies at California State University, told AFP it was too early to tell whether Teo would maintain ties with Taiwan.
But international relations will be a top priority for Teo's new government, she said.
“It will definitely be a topic for them. They also have to choose the high commissioner and ambassador, so Taiwan will be part of that,” she said.
“The coverage in Tuvalu is not that great, so this will be a top priority, along with climate change and telecommunications.”