Vanuatu
Group of islands in the SW Pacific Ocean, part of Melanesia.
Government
Vanuatu is an independent republic within the Commonwealth. The constitution
dates from independence 1980. It provides for a president, who
is formal head of state, elected for a five-year term by an electoral
college consisting of parliament and the presidents of the country's
regional councils. Parliament consists of a single chamber of
49 members, elected by universal suffrage, through a system of
proportional representation, for a four-year term. From among
their members they elect a prime minister who then appoints and
presides over a council of ministers.
History
Originally settled by Melanesians, the islands were reached from Europe
1606 by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandez de Queiras. Called
the New Hebrides, they were jointly administered by France and
Britain from 1906. Vanuatu escaped Japanese occupation during
World War II.
In the 1970s two political parties were formed, the New Hebrides
National Party, supported by British interests, and the Union
of New Hebrides Communities, supported by France. Discussions
began in London about eventual independence, and they resulted
in the election of a representative assembly Nov 1975. Independence
was delayed because of objections by the National Party, which
had changed its name to the Vanua'aku Party (VP). A government
of national unity was formed Dec 1978 with Father Gerard Leymang
as chief minister and the VP leader, Father Walter Lini, as his
deputy. In 1980 a revolt by French settlers and plantation workers
on the island of Espíritu Santo was put down by British, French,
and Papua New Guinean troops.
Independence
Later in 1980 the New Hebrides became independent, within the Commonwealth,
as the Republic of Vanuatu. The first president was George Kalkoa,
who adopted the name Sokomanu, and the first prime minister was
Father Lini.
Role in Pacific Region
Externally, after independence, Vanuatu sought to promote greater cooperation
among the states of the Pacific region. As part of this strategy,
along with Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, it formed,
in 1988, the `Spearhead Group´, aiming to preserve Melanesian
cultural tradition and to campaign for New Caledonia's independence.
In 1995 the government controversially banned dissemination of
information on the resumption of French nuclear testing in the
S Pacific. A demonstration against the testing was also banned.
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