Maneaba ni Maungatabu (Kiribati Parliament) Photo: Facebook / Maneaba ni Maungatabu
A month on from the Kiribati parliamentary elections MPs meet for the first time in Tarawa today.
They will be sworn in, choose a Speaker, and then make nominations for president.
The 45 MPs are required to make nominations of up to three people who will then campaign for the presidency.
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The current president, or Te Beretitenti, Taneti Maamau has held the post through the last eight years and is considered the frontrunner in 2024.
Kiribati journalist Rimon Rimon told RNZ Pacific last month the Speaker could be an MP, but that is not usually the case.
"Basically, in the past, it was someone who usually did not get elected from either side," he said.
He said the MPs "just pitch" the Speaker and then "you have to lobby both parties for your nomination".
"We have some ideas, but we don't know who they are. They're all just in the air right now."
Rimon said whether Maamau returns as president is not certain.
"It's really an open game right now. Of course, the cards may be in his favour, but we can't pre-empt what the people want.
"The dynamics of the general elections are quite different from the dynamics of the presidential election."
