Remengesau's election as president came after he had served eight years as President Kuniwo Nakamura's vice president. Prior to that he had been a popular senator for eight years, serving as minister of administration in the Etpison administration (1989–92). Remengesau defeated Senator Peter Sugiyama for the presidency by nearly 600 votes (5,291 to 4,696) in the November 2001 contest, making him Palau's youngest president. Notably, the people also elected Palau's first female vice president, Sandra Sumang Pierantozzi, formerly a senator and minister under Etpison.
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