Namson Tran is a Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

 businessman and politician.

Born in Vietnam, Tran moved first to Vanuatu

Vanuatu

Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...

 then to Solomon Islands, where he married a Solomon Islander and became a naturalised citizen.

He worked as an accountant

Accountant

An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...

 before becoming a "a high-profile businessman", the owner of Honiara Casino, the "biggest casino" in the Solomons.

His political career began when he was elected to the National Parliament as MP

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for West Honiara, a constituency

Constituencies in Solomon Islands

There are 50 constituencies in Solomon Islands, each electing one Member of Parliament to the National Parliament. Elections are held every four years; the most recent took place on April 5, 2006...

 in the capital city, Honiara

Honiara

Honiara, population 49,107 , 78,190 , is the capital of the Solomon Islands and of Guadalcanal Province, although it is a separately administered town...

, in the August 2010 general election

Solomon Islands general election, 2010

A general election was held in the Solomon Islands on 4 August 2010. In May 2010, Prime Minister Derek Sikua announced that the election would be held on 4 August, however, this announcement was deemed to be premature, as only the Governor General has the authority to announce the election date...

. He was elected as an independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

, being a member of no political party. The following month, he was elected Deputy Speaker of Parliament, as deputy to Speaker

Speaker of the National Parliament of Solomon Islands

The Speaker of National Parliament is the Speaker of the National Parliament of Solomon Islands. The position was established under section 64 of the Constitution of 1978, when the country became independent from the United Kingdom...

 Sir Allan Kemakeza

Allan Kemakeza

Sir Allan Kemakeza KBE was the seventh Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands from 2001 to 2006. He represented Savo/Russel Constituency in the National Parliament of Solomon Islands from 1989 to 2010 and was most recently Minister of Forestry December 2007 to August 2010...

.