Ngiratkel Etpison
His Excellency Ngiratkel Etpison | |
---|---|
5th President of Palau | |
In office 1 January 1989 – 1 January 1993 | |
Vice President | Kuniwo Nakamura |
Preceded by | Thomas Remengesau Sr. |
Succeeded by | Kuniwo Nakamura |
Personal details | |
Born | Koror, South Seas Mandate (present day Palau) | 3 May 1925
Died | 1 August 1997 Riverside, California, United States | (aged 72)
Political party | Independent |
Children | 2 |
Ngiratkel Etpison (3 May 1925 – 1 August 1997)[1] was a politician and businessman from Palau. Etpison was elected President in 1988 and served from 1989 until 1993, becoming the country’s first elected president to serve a full term in office.
Election
Before the 1988 elections, Etpison was a businessman and governor of Ngatpang State with limited political experience. He did not speak English.[2]
He was elected
Presidency
Ngiratkel Etpison was the first president that survived his entire presidency. (Haruo Remeliik was murdered and Lazarus Salii committed suicide by shooting, both while in office.)
While in office, Etpison proposed a request to the United States of America to grant Palau independence from its 43-year U.N. trusteeship. Because of the Palauan constitutional requirement of achieving a 75% majority vote, the initial proposal was overturned. This proposal would later develop into the Compact of Free Association, an agreement with the United States that would grant independence to the Republic of Palau. The Compact of Free Association was approved by the United States in 1994 under Kuniwo Nakamura after negotiating a 50-year stimulus plan to support Palau's founding of its new Republic in exchange for military assets in land.[4]
Business work
Ngiratkel Etpison founded the NECO group of companies in 1945. He started by using a Japanese scrapped generator to make ice candy, later becoming one of the prominent businessmen of Palau. He started the first tourist and sightseeing business in the 1970s, and in 1984 opened Palau Pacific Resort, Palau's most luxurious beach resort.[1]
Personal life
Etpison was the
References
- ^ a b Etpison, Amanda (1995), Palau: Portrait of Paradise, NECO Corp
- ^ Leibowitz, Arnold (16 February 1996). "Embattled Island: Palau's Struggle for Independence". Greenwood Publishing Group.
- ISBN 978-0-521-59129-4
- ^ A, P (1990), "World IN BRIEF : PALAU : Voters Block Plan for Self-Government", Los Angeles Times
- ^ "Honolulu Star-Bulletin 05 Aug 1997, page 2". Newspapers.com. Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
- ^ "About Us". Etpison Museum. Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023.