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MAJURO — Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine survived a vote of no-confidence Monday afternoon, as parliament split evenly 16-16.

The movers of the motion of no confidence needed 17 votes to topple Heine. The vote was held with 32 of the 33 members present, as one was off-island for medical treatment.

Hilda Heine

In pre-vote comments to the public and media, President Heine had said the no confidence motion was largely motivated by a proposal by an outside investor, Cary Yan, to create an investor haven at Rongelap Atoll. But debate in parliament Monday morning was limited to the five issues identified by the opposition, which did not include mention of the Rongelap proposal.

President Heine, Finance Minister Brenson Wase and Foreign Minister John Silk led 45 minutes of government response to the five issues outlined by the motion movers, with President Heine saying the vote was really a “referendum about our own politics.”

Wase said the criticism of the Marshall Islands government for moving ahead with a digital currency plan has been overtaken by events, with numerous countries in the Pacific following the Marshall Islands with announcements that they will be establishing their own digital currencies and requesting support from the International Monetary Fund. He said delays in releasing the Marshall Islands’ “SOV” digital currency were so the country could meet the requirements of the U.S., European Union and others.

Silk said the international recognition accorded President Heine and her government showed the opposition’s contention that the government had ruined the nation’s reputation internationally was wrong. He cited donors doubling their annual grants and the country’s chairmanship of various global climate groups.

Opposition Senators Casten Nemra, Bruce Bilimon and Alfred Alfred, Jr. fired back, hammering the government on lack of transparency in handling theft of money from its national trust fund in 2017 and saying the government had taken away people’s right to vote by eliminating postal absentee balloting for islanders living offshore.

The parliament chamber was packed with a standing-room crowd to view the debate and the vote that followed.

Immediately after the vote results were confirmed, Speaker Kenneth Kedi, who had backed the no confidence move, congratulated Heine and her Cabinet, and then, following a motion to recess, declared Nitijela to be in recess pending the call of the Speaker.</s>Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine narrowly survived a vote of no confidence Monday, seeing off a challenge she alleges was orchestrated by Chinese-backed business interests intent on undermining the Pacific nation's sovereignty.

The vote to topple Heine, the first and only elected female leader of a Pacific island nation, split parliament 16-16, one short of the 17 her opponents required.

In front of a packed public gallery, Heine and her allies spent 45 minutes defending the government's record, including claims from the opposition it had sullied the country's international reputation and eroded voting rights.

Once the vote was confirmed, Speaker Kenneth Kedi -- who had backed the no-confidence move -- congratulated Heine and declared parliament was in recess.

Heine said in the days leading up to the vote that the opposition's stated reasons for trying to unseat her were a "smokescreen" to cover their real motives.

She said the no-confidence motion was actually prompted by her government's refusal to back plans for an independently administered tax haven on an atoll within the Marshalls.

The proposed Rongelap Atoll Special Administrative Region (RASAR) is the brainchild of Cary Yan, a Chinese businessman and Marshall Islands citizen who launched the concept in Hong Kong earlier this year.

The idea is that the territory would be self governing and completely tax free, making it an attractive option for hi-tech firms.

Heine's government has rejected the proposal over concerns it could be vulnerable to money laundering and passport-for-sale scams.

She suggested last week that the RASAR could be a Trojan horse for China to take over part of her country.

The no-confidence vote was "an effort by certain foreign interests to take control of one of our atolls and turn it into a country within our own country," she told Radio New Zealand.

Beijing has used billions of dollars in investment to court influence with tiny island nations across the Pacific Ocean, a region considered strategically important as a maritime gateway to Asia.

Heine said she was determined to protect her country's sovereignty.

"We have to be cautious knowing what the geo-political situation is in the Pacific region," she said.

"I think it's important for the government to do its own due diligence and ensure that the sovereignty of the country is secure."</s>The Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI) president Hilda Heine has survived a vote of no confidence by just one vote, meaning her proposed national cryptocurrency is still on the cards.

Heine’s opponents were unable to find the majority required to oust Heine over persistent plans to alleviate the nation’s reliance on the US dollar with a national cryptocurrency called “the Sovereign,” Nikkei Asian Review reports.

RMI’s parliament ended split evenly over whether to remove Heine from her leadership, 16 to 16. Heine will continue to serve as the nation’s head of state.

The decision to vote was realized after eight senators accused Heine of ruining the nation’s reputation with her idea of a state-backed cryptocurrency.

Straight after the vote, RMI finance minister Brenson Wase reportedly confirmed the government’s intent to launching the Sovereign, pending it meets requirements set by regulators from the US, Europe, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Sovereign was first revealed at the start of the year, when government ministers announced it would issue a new digital cryptocurrency via initial coin offering (ICO), intended to be used as legal tender.

But just last month, the IMF warned Heine to ease off on launching the Sovereign, or face being cut off from the US dollar altogether, which RMI uses to access critical monetary meant to curtail spiralling inflation.

To date there has been little evidence for Heine giving up on the idea of a sovereign cryptocurrency any time soon, and surviving today’s vote could only bolster her confidence – that is, until the IMF catches wind of these results.
Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine narrowly survives a 16-16 vote of no confidence. 17 votes were needed to remove Heine from office.