Marcus Stephen

His Excellency Marcus Stephen MP
President of Nauru
In office 19 December 2007 – 10 November 2011
Deputy	Kieren Keke
Preceded by	Ludwig Scotty
Succeeded by	Freddie Pitcher
Speaker of Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 August 2019
Preceded by	Cyril Buraman
Member of the Nauruan Parliament for Anetan
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 August 2019
Preceded by	Cyril Buraman
In office 3 May 2003 – 13 July 2016
Preceded by	Vassal Gadoengin
Succeeded by	Sean Oppenheimer
Personal details
Born	(1969-10-01) 1 October 1969 (age 54) Nauru[1]
Political party	Independent

Marcus Ajemada Stephen (born 1 October 1969) is a Nauruan politician and former sportsperson who previously was a member of the Cabinet of Nauru, and who served as President of Nauru from December 2007 to November 2011. The son of Nauruan parliamentarian Lawrence Stephen, Stephen was educated at St Bedes College and RMIT University in Victoria, Australia. Initially playing Australian rules football, he opted to pursue the sport of weightlifting, in which he represented Nauru at the Summer Olympics and Commonwealth Games between 1990 and 2002, winning seven Commonwealth gold medals.

After his retirement from weightlifting, Stephen worked at the Bank of Nauru before being elected to parliament at the 2003 elections. Having occupied various portfolios in the Nauruan government under President René Harris, Stephen was sworn in as president after moving a no confidence motion against his predecessor, Ludwig Scotty. His term as president was marked by allegations of corruption and accusations of a coup d'état, as well as the declaration of a state of emergency and a suspension from parliament by the Nauruan Supreme Court in 2008. Two separate elections were called in April and June 2010 after accusations of bribery of government members of parliament, with another state of emergency declared in the period between elections. Stephen resigned from the presidency in November 2011 after further allegations of corruption were raised by opposition factions, and was succeeded by Freddie Pitcher, but was re-appointed to the Cabinet in June 2012 by Pitcher's successor as president, Sprent Dabwido. On 27 August 2019, Stephen was elected as the new Speaker of Parliament during its inaugural session.