Kausaanek Malaati

Kausaanek Malaati
Kausaanek at the Meeting of State Governors in Chalatenango, May 2023.
10th Leader of Mava Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 March 2023
Governor	Tomas Rabellino
Preceded by	Paqtuq Maagamarak
Cabinet positions
Public Services	2021-2023
Communities and Families	2017-2021
Member of Mava Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 May 1997
Personal details
Born	(1952-08-10) 10 August 1952 Paas, Colony of the Mava Islands
Education	University of Chalatenango (BA) Chalatenango Teachers' College (Dip.S.Ed.)

Kausaanek Salaaq Malaati (/koʊsaːnek salaːk malaːti/; born 10 August 1952) is a Mavean politician who currently serves as Leader of Mava Council since March 2023. He previously served in the Mava Council Cabinet, serving as Cabinet Member for Communities and Families (2017-2021) and for Public Services (2021-2023). He has been a member of Mava Council since 1997, and is currently the longest-serving counillor.

Kausaanek is the oldest person to hold the office of Leader, having assumed the office aged 70.

Early life and education

Kausaanek was born on 10 August 1952 to Malaati Kaaganatak and Amuniq Ikinqipaagmik. Malaati was a general practitioner, whilst his mother was a teacher before leaving employment to raise a family. His parents met when his mother was a patient of his father, having married after a short courtship. Kausaanek was educated at Paas Catholic School and Mava College, before enrolling at the University of Chalatenango - the first in his family to go to university. He graduated with a BA (Hons) in social and behavioral sciences. In 1975, also at Chalatenango, he earned his teaching qualifications.

Career

On returning to Mava in 1975, he took up the position of a general studies teacher at Mava College. In 1983 he was appointed deputy principal of the college, and principal in 1988. During his time as principal and deputy principal he became a public figure in the local Mavean community, earning particular renown for his work to improve educational standards.

In 1991, he was approached to stand as a counillor in the following year's elections; he turned down the request to focus on teaching. In 1996 he resigned as principal, although remaining as a part-time teacher, ahead of elections in 1997. He stood as a candidate and was elected with the sixth-most votes of thirteen candidates.

As a councillor, he sat on the Committee on Administration, eventually becoming its chairman in 2004. As chairman, he led a review of the process of appointing the administrator (representative of the governor), with the final proposal recommending their approval by the Council. Whilst a non-binding consultative role was eventually established for the council, it remains unable to veto any appointment.

Kausaanek speaking with Jose Miguélez in 2023.

In 2017 he was appointed to serve in the cabinet with responsibility for the Communities and Families portfolio. In this capacity, he led the overhaul of children's services and successfully petitioned the Atitlanese federal ministry of health for funds for the building of a new doctor's surgery. He received criticism, however, after it emerged that he received private medical treatment in Chalatenango.

In 2021, he was promoted to the Public Services portfolio. He served in this position until becoming council leader.

On the resignation of Paqtuq Maagamarak following his cancer diagnosis, Kausaanek was elected by the council as its leader. He was appointed by the administrator on 22 March 2023, becoming the oldest person to assume the office.

Personal life

Kausaanek is unmarried and lives with his sister in south Paas. He has resisted questions about his private life; his batchelor status and hesitance to disclose personal information has led to suggestions of homosexuality, which he neither confirms nor denies.

He is a lapsed Catholic.

See also

• List of leaders of Mava
• Mava Council
• Politics of Mava