The 12 MPs, elected every four years, are independents who work in loose political associations. The prime minister, an MP elected by parliament, works with a cabinet of up to four other MPs. After the 1993 elections, MPs were evenly divided between the two men who had dominated politics for most of the post-independence period, Tomasi Puapua and Bikenibeu Paeniu. After a second general election, Puapua pulled out of the premiership contest. Paeniu was then defeated by Kamuta Laatasi, BP Oil's manager in Tuvalu. Day-to-day administration is in the hands of elected councils on each island.
