Johnson Toribiong

Johnson Toribiong (born 22 July 1946) is a Palauan attorney and politician.^[1] He served as president of Palau from 2008 to 2013.^[2] He has run for president five times – in 1992, 1996, 2008, 2012, and 2020.^[3]

His Excellency Johnson Toribiong
Toribiong in 2009
8th President of Palau
In office 15 January 2009 – 17 January 2013
Vice President	Kerai Mariur
Preceded by	Tommy Remengesau
Succeeded by	Tommy Remengesau
Personal details
Born	(1946-07-22) 22 July 1946 (age 79) Airai, South Pacific Mandate (now Palau)
Political party	Independent
Spouses	Valeria Toribiong ​ ​ (m. 1976; div. 2023)​ Christa Nafstad Toribiong ​ ​ (m. 2023)​
Alma mater	University of Washington, School of Law

Background and early career

Toribiong was born in Airai, one of the states of Palau. He attended the College of Guam, 1965–66, and holds a Juris Doctor degree (1972) and a Master of Laws (1973) degree from the University of Washington School of Law.^[4][5] His LL.M. thesis was entitled, "Oil Pollution by Ships and Micronesia: A Survey of Maritime Jurisdiction and Applicable Laws."^[6]

He was elected to the Senate of Palau in 1980. In the 1992 elections; Toribiong attracted 3,188 votes for president, versus 2,084 for one-term incumbent Ngiratkel Etpison and 3,125 for rival Kuniwo Nakamura; however, as no candidate attracted more than 50% of the vote, Nakamura and Toribiong went on to a runoff election, in which Toribiong was defeated.^[7] He is the former Ngiraked of Airai.^[8]

President

Toribiong was a candidate for president of Palau during the November 2008 presidential election.^[9] His running mate for vice president was Kerai Mariur, a delegate in the Palau National Congress.^[9] Toribiong was opposed by Elias Camsek Chin, the outgoing Palauan vice president.^[9]

Toribiong led the early, unofficial vote tally with 1,629 votes to Chin's 1,499.^[9] The lead ultimately held and Toribiong defeated Chin in the election.

Toribiong was sworn into office as president of Palau on January 15, 2009.^[10]

In 2009, the Republic of Palau created the world's first shark sanctuary. It is illegal to catch sharks within Palau's EEZ, which covers an area of 230,000 square miles (600,000 km²). This is an area about the size of France. President Johnson Toribiong also called for a ban on global shark finning, stating: "These creatures are being slaughtered and are perhaps at the brink of extinction unless we take positive action to protect them."^[11]

Toribiong was defeated in the presidential election of 2012. One of the issues was his acceptance of 6 Uyghur former prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, who did not fit into Palauan society.^[12]