Nakamura, Kuniwo (1943– )

Paluan politician, president 1992–2001. He became vice president of Palau in 1989, and was faced with a crisis caused by an intractable anti-nuclear clause in the constitution that had prevented Palau moving from the status of a US trust territory status to independence, within a Compact of Free Association that guaranteed US financial aid. The solution he recommended was to lower the threshold needed to change the constitution by referendum. In November 1992 Nakamura was narrowly elected president, with 50.7% of the vote, and in October 1994 independence was achieved. He was re-elected in November 1996 with an increased majority, benefiting from an economic upturn resulting from growth in the tourist industry and US aid.

Born in Peleliu state, Nakamura studied economics and business administration at the University of Hawaii and later worked as a teacher and economics adviser to the US trust territory administration of Palau. He entered politics in 1975, being elected to the Congress of Micronesia and from the late 1970s sat in the Palau and Koror state legislatures.