Ludwig Scotty

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Ludwig Derangadage Scotty (born June 20, 1948, in Anabar) is a former President of the Republic of Nauru. He served as President from May 29, 2003 to August 8, 2003, then from June 22, 2004 to his ousting in a vote of no confidence on December 19, 2007.

Scotty grew up in Anabar in the north of Nauru; he attended secondary school from 1960 until 1964 and studied law at the University of the South Pacific in the Fijian capital city Suva. On March 15 1983 he was first elected to the Parliament for his district Anbar; in his longterm tenure as parliament member Scotty was the chairman of the Bank of Nauru, the Nauru Rehabilitation Corporation and in the board of directors of Air Nauru.

Ludwig served as Speaker of Parliament from the late 1990s until 2000 while representing the Anabar district. During the caretaker administration of Derog Gioura, Ludwig was elected President of Nauru by a parliamentary vote of 10-7, defeating Centre Party leader and former President Kinza Clodumar.

President Scotty's cabinet included himself as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baron D. Waqa of Boe district as Minister of Education, David Adeang of Ubenide as Minister of Finance, Dr. Kieren Keke of Yaren as Minister of Health, Russel E. Kun of Ubenide as Minister of Justice and Dogabe A. Jeremiah of Meneng as Minister of Public Works.

Ludwig was ousted in a vote of no confidence in August 2003 and was replaced by René Harris. He returned as President on June 22, 2004 after a member of Harris's faction of the Parliament of Nauru defected. Ludwig was re-elected to Parliament in elections in October 2004, and most of his allies also did well. In this term, Scotty became the first president of Nauru to give up the foreign affairs ministry, as David Adeang was appointed to that position.

Scotty's government implemented major reforms to restore the country's economy.

Scotty and his supporters won a landslide victory in the parliamentary election held on August 25, 2007. On August 28, Scotty was re-elected as president with the support of 14 of the 18 members of parliament, defeating Marcus Stephen.

Despite the grave problems which the Nauruan authorities have been facing in recent years, the past few years under the Presidency of Ludwig Scotty saw some measure of stability return to the island Republic, albeit constrained by austerity measures. The liberal use of Parliamentary no-confidence motions, the occasion of many crises of government over several years, seemed initially to have subsided under Ludwig Scotty's widely respected tenure of office.

On November 13 2007, a motion of no-confidence against Scotty's government was unsuccessful; although a majority of those voting supported the motion (eight in favor, seven opposed), it fell short of the necessary nine votes. The motion was led by Dr.Kieren Keke, and it was based on allegations of misconduct on the part of Adeang and Scotty's unwillingness to act against Adeang.

On December 19, 2007, however, Parliament did succeed in ousting President Scotty through a new vote of no confidence (ten votes in favour, seven opposed). The motion was based on the same causes as the November vote. Marcus Stephen was sworn in as President of Nauru.

References

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Last updated on Wednesday March 05, 2008 at 11:20:25 PST (GMT -0800)
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