Tabai, Ieremia T (1950– )

Kiribati politician, chief minister 1978–79 and president 1979–91. He was leader of the opposition until February 1978, when he became chief minister, and on independence, in July 1979, he became the country's first executive president. Tabai served concurrently as foreign minister and was re-elected in 1982, 1983, and 1987. From the mid-1980s opposition began to grow to his leadership. Although he had generally pursued a pro-Western foreign policy, Tabai's negotiation of a controversial (and short-lived) fishing agreement with a Soviet state-owned company, Sovrybflot, led to the formation of the country's first political party, the Christian Democratic Party, by opposition leader Harry Tong. Tabai stepped down as president in July 1991 and was replaced by Teatao Teannaki, as the constitution prevented him from seeking a further term.

Educated in New Zealand, Tabai was first elected to the assembly on its creation in May 1974, when Kiribati was known as the Gilbert Islands and was a British colony.