Incumbent Peleliu Governor Temmy Shmull secures yet another term for Peleliu governorship as the latest unofficial results including absentee vote counts released by the Palau Election Commission (PEC) for Peleliu’s 13th General Elections showed him leading the race.
Shmull garnered 309 votes, leaving opposition Jackson Ngiraingas behind with 265 votes.
In a phone interview with Island Times on December 12, Shmull said that now that the election results are out, he wants to bring things back to normalcy and begin doing the work.
Shmull said that one of the main projects he would like to begin is to address the shortage of housing in the state as new young couples who are starting their own families are already emerging that would benefit from this development.
Aside from that, Shmull also said that he also wants to dredge a channel where boats pass through to go to the state as it is now going too shallow. This is necessary, according to Shmull, to ease transport to and from Peleliu.
Once inaugurated, Shmull will begin his third and last term as Governor of Peleliu State.
Shmull once worked in the government as a foreign service officer and had later became an advisor to then Acting-President Thomas Remengesau, Sr. He later became the Chief of Staff of Former President Kuniwo Nakamura before becoming a Minister of State under President Tommy Remengesau, Jr.’s first and second term. In 2013, he then decided to run for the Peleliu gubernatorial seat and has since then serve as its governor until the present.
Meanwhile, the Peleliu legislature-at-large race is topped by Bill G. Rekemel with 295 votes and followed by Burton Lee Wong with 288 votes, Florah M. Tewid with 246 votes, Eufrasia N. Remeliik with 245 votes, and Umedib M. Ridep with 215 votes.
The Ngerchol Hamlet legislature is topped by Andres Napoleon with 101 votes, the Ngerdelolk Hamlet by Cordino Soalablai with 45 votes, Ngerkeukl Hamlet by Edburgh Mabel with 56 votes, and Telie Hamlet by C. Salii Rekemel with 35 votes.
The Ngesias Hamlet are also set for a runoff election on January 7, 2019 as Johannes Tsueneo and Joel Okada tied by each garnering 49 votes. (Rhealyn C. Pojas)