Titikaveka Cook Islands Party appoints first woman chairperson!

The Cook Islands Party continues to strengthen its election campaign through the appointment of its first constituency Chairperson in Titikaveka last night under its new constitution. What makes this process more ground breaking is that Titikaveka supporters have elected Moeroa Tamangaro, a woman and well known personality as its Chairperson, said a CIP Media/ Policy spokesperson.
We were delighted that Moeroa allowed her name to be submitted for nomination and the fact that she accepted the position with humility shows the level of commitment we have amongst our supporters in Titikaveka.
Moeroa brings a wealth of experience, talent and capability to our Titikaveka team. Chairperson of Titikaveka School committee, active involvement in various sports codes, Woman of the Month and numerous other community activities through church, cultural and social services show she is well qualified to take on this role in what has usually been a male oriented bastion but is now likely to open doors to an exciting and challenging road ahead.
This is a big step for me and I hope my husband doesn’t divorce me, Moeroa jokingly stated at the meeting in her closing speech on accepting the position. For now, her task will be to spearhead the remaining appointments of vacant positions to the committee and to start the ball rolling in terms of planning and talking to the people of Titikaveka for the general elections.
This will not be an easy task and I will be calling on my community to help take us through this process. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our supporters who attended the meeting and for showing their confidence in me. Moeroa also took the opportunity to thank the outgoing Chairperson Sabu Matapo and his committee for their efforts and acknowledged the former MP Tiki Matapo for all the work he has done for Titikaveka in the past.
On another level, CIP have reinforced its commitment to introduce more women into its political arena. We don’t just talk about political reform, we actually walk the talk and this has been captured in our constitution ( papa ture ) and will continue to feature in our election manifesto.
Moeroa’s appointment is an example of how you include talent into the political arena from the grassroots who are effective in what they do without having to go to Parliament to do it. She is a leader in her own right, not because of the party but because of her involvement and commitment to Titikaveka and her people and that is what makes her appointment more exciting.
She will definitely add value to the decision making process through her influence and leadership characteristics which if all goes well, will keep politicians who are elected, on their toes and to place them on notice that if they’re not capable of doing their job, others are ready to step in and do so.
In his closing remarks, the former MP for Titikaveka Tiki Matapo congratulated Moeroa on her appointment and offered his full support to the committee. At the same time to eliminate any speculation or rumour, Matapo also stated that he has no intention of standing for Titikaveka at the next election and said it was time for new blood. Whoever is selected as our candidate, I will support. For now, it is important to get behind Moeroa and her team and offer our full support so that we are prepared for an election at any time..
The committee will be calling another public meeting for next Wednesday to complete the final selection process.

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