.,t~,. I 1 j .. ~, .

POLITICAL REVIEWS

tary standing committees, the rotationof the governor-general among theprovinces, improving parliamentarystanding orders, and identifying areasof the constitution needing immediateamendments (5N, 20 July 1991).

Leadership, especially political lead­ership, continued to bean issue. SirPeter Kenilorea left politics after fifteenyears of service to become director ofthe Forum Fisheries Agency. On 17October, Andrew Nori resigned asleader of the opposition because helacked the necessary support. He wassucceeded by Joses Tuhanuku (5N, 8Nov 1991). Reputations of a number ofleaders were under scrutiny. The Lead­ership Code Commission finallycleared the names of Alex Barlett, Col­ombus Abe, and the prime ministerover the 1990 51$250 million loan pro­posal, ruling that their action did notcontravene section 94(1)(b)(c)(d) of theconstitution.

Among the political parties, the Peo­ples' Alliance Party appeared activeand organized. Early in the year, Act­ing General Secretary David Kausimaecalled for party members who wereministers in the Mamaloni governmentto show their real allegiance to theparty (55, IS Feb 1991). During theannual general meeting in November,new officers were elected and issued anultimatum to the ministers to make thechoice to resign from the Governmentof National Unity or face being sackedby the party (55, IS Nov 1991).

Overall, 1991 proved quite eventful.For the Mamaloni government, moredetermination and decisiveness areneeded to implement the party's poli­cies in the remainder of its parliamen­tary term. Even for a "founding father"

'1.

of the country, this could be a hercu­lean undertaking.

JOHN MOFFAT FUGUI

References

Crocombe, Marjorie T. 1988. Satellites andCentres. In Pacific Universities: Achieve­ments, Problems and Prospects, edited byRon Crocombe and Malama Meleisea,II9-132. Suva: Institute of Pacific Studies,University of the South Pacific.

5N, Solomon Nius. Weekly, GovernmentInformation Service, Honiara.

55, Solomon Star. Weekly, Honiara.

VANUATU

For Vanuatu, 1991 was the year of thethree prime ministers. In August-Sep­tember Father Walter Lini was finallyreplaced as Vanua'aku Pati (vp) leaderand prime minister by Donald Kalpo­kas. And in the national elections inDecember, the vp-which had ruledVanuatu since independence in 1980­lost office to a coalition led by MaximCarlot and dominated by his (fran­cophone) Union of ModerateParties (UMP).

Dissatisfaction with Lini's leader­ship had mounted in February when hesacked Finance Minister Sela Molisa,apparently over "personality differ­ences" (PR, 14 Feb 1991, I). The dis­missal followed a major Cabinetreshuffle in November 1990, in whichLini had assumed several key portfo­lios. The previous October, Lini hadsacked Grace Molisa, a senior politicaladviser and the wife of Sela Molisa.She had been Lini's private secretaryfor several years, but they fell out when

, n~,<,. '~'''.,,.J'

THE CONTEMPORARY PACIFIC. FALL 1992

she denounced his expulsion of fiveexpatriate businessmen (PR, 31 Oct1991,3). Deportation orders ("greenletters") have been controversial inVanuatu, because at times they havebeen used to remove business rivalsand settle political and personal scores,especially against French expatriates(see PIM, July 1991, 20-21).

Lini's critics claimed he had becomedependent on two advisers-a localVietnamese businessman, Dinh vanTanh, and a wealthy American, JackScantlin-while losing touch with for­mer VP associates (IBP, Oct 1991, 21­22; PIM, July 1991, 18, 21). Despiteleadership tensions, VP officials drewcomfort from the partial local electionsheld in late January, in which the VPperformed reasonably well (PR, 14 Feb1991,3; VW, 2 Feb 1991, I, II).

In late March the new terminal,funded by Japan, was opened at Bauer­field, the international airport. Thisfollowed the extension of the runway,funded by Australia, completed earlierin the year. At the opening ceremony,Lini thanked these two countries andalso the United Kingdom, the Euro­pean Economic Community, and NewZealand for their contributions towardthe improvement of Vanuatu's tourismand air transport facilities (VW, 28 Mar1991, I, II).

Criticism of Lini increased further inmid-April after he sacked three seniorpublic servants. In an attempt toresolve the leadership question, the VPbrought its annual congress, plannedfor June, forward to late April. Afterheated discussions at the congress,Lini's supporters managed to defer thevote on the membership of the nationalexecutive (PR, 2 May 1991, I).

Lini's troubles worsened in May. Hehad a mild heart attack, compoundingthe poor health he has experiencedsince suffering a stroke in early 1987.He could not fulfill the heavy workloadhe had assumed. In many areas govern­ment and administration ground to ahalt (PR, 16 May 1991,2). In late 1990,Lini had expressed willingness to standdown at some future date, but now herefused to give up power, and in Juneand July sacked four more ministers aswell as several public servants. In lateJuly, leaders of the Presbyterian churchdenounced his arbitrary actions andthe "increased nepotism" in his admin­istration (PR, 25 July 1991, I). Lini'sposition had become untenable: thePresbyterian church is adhered to bysome 40 percent of the population andtraditionally has formed the VP's sup­port base, along with the Anglicanchurch, in which Lini is a priest (seeHenningham 1989,173).

The crunch came at a special VPcongress held on 7 August. The meet­ing, which Lini and his supporters boy­cotted, chose Donald Kalpokas toreplace Lini as party president. Underthe VP constitution the party presidentalso serves as prime minister when theparty is in power, so Kalpokas was setto become prime minister, bringingLini's eleven-year term to an end. ButLini defied the congress decision, cling­ing to power until ousted in a parlia­mentary vote of no-confidence on 6September. Before leaving office Liniannounced, on 17 August, the releaseof Jimmy Stephens, imprisoned in 1980for leading the abortive secessionattempt on Espiritu Santo. Stephens,now seventy-six, in poor health, andnearing the end of his sentence, had

POLITICAL REVIEWS

agreed to engage in a ceremony of cus­tomary reconciliation with Lini follow­ing his release (vw, 24 Aug 1991, I, 6­7; IBP, Oct 1991, 24)·

The new prime minister announcedthat national elections would be heldsoon and said that his administrationwould restore business confidence (PR,19 Sept 1991, 2). In October, he rein­stated Grace Molisa as private secre­tary to the prime minister. Meanwhileinvestigations into the conduct of Linibegan.

Kalpokas' term as prime ministerwas brief: his government lost power atthe elections on 2December. The pollswent ahead peacefully, with onlyminor irregularities. The UMP won 30.6percent of the vote and 19 seats. Nextcame the VP, with 22.6 percent of thevote and 10 seats, and Lini's newlyformed National United Party (NUP),

with 20.4 percent and 10 seats. BarakSope's Melanesian Progressive Party(MPP), formed after the Lini-Sope splitin 1988, won 15-4 percent of the voteand 4 seats, with most of the remainingvotes and I seat each going to the TanUnion, Nagriamel, and Fren Melanesia(Van Trease, 1991, II-I2; VW, 14 Dec1991,10-15).

The UMP had performed less con­vincingly than in the 1987 elections,when it gained 39.9 percent of the vote,and only slightly better than in 1983,when its share was 28.6 percent. In1991 the main difference was that theformer VP had split into three parties.Indeed at 58.4 percent, the combinedpercentage performance in 1991 of theVP, the NUP, and the MPP was almost ashigh as the 60.5 percent attained by theformer VP in 1979 and higher than itsscores of 55 percent in 1983 and 47.3

":1 •

percent in 1987. Regional differenceswere apparent in the voting patterns.The VP won most of its seats in the cen­tral and southern islands, whereas theNUP won most of its seats in the north­ern islands.

The UMP first sought to establish agoverning coalition with the MPP andthen with the VP. But both partiesasked too high a price. So the UMP

fashioned a coalition with Lini's NUP

and with the small Fren Melanesiaparty to obtain a 30-seat majority. On16 December, at the first sitting of thenew parliament, Maxim Carlot, theUMP'S secretary general, became thenew prime minister. While concedingthat the deal with Lini's party hadcaused dissension within the UMP,

Carlot argued that the coalitionarrangement would permit stable gov­enment (Age, 26 Dec 1991,13). Carlotnamed an eleven-member cabinet com­prising himself and six other UMP mem­bers and four NUP members. The NUP

members included Hilda Lini, a promi­nent journalist and politician and a sis­ter of Walter Lini, who thus becameVanuatu's first woman minister. Linihimself remained on the back bench,though it was rumored that in duecourse he would succeed Fred Tima­kata as president of Vanuatu.

In an address to the nation, PrimeMinister Carlot said his governmentwould reestablish political stability,reconcile differences, encourage invest­ment, and promote economic develop­ment (VW, 21 Dec 1991,7-8, II). Hepromised to promote bilingualism,ending the disadvantages of Fran­cophones under VP rule. He alsodenounced nepotism and businessfavoritism. He and his supporters indi-

• ,~::.,' f~, \i

THE CONTEMPORARY PACIFIC· FALL 1992

cated that inquiries into alleged malad­ministration and corruption by the Linigovernment and its associates may bepursued. Although keen to strengthenconnections with France, Carlot saidhe wanted Vanuatu to maintain closelinks with Australia, New Zealand, theUnited Kingdom, and the Pacific Islandcountries.

Carlot's government faces big chal­lenges. He and his ministers lack expe­rience. The UMP-NUP alliance is fragile:the UMP is a loose, factionalized coali­tion, and there are both bad blood andpolicy divergences-notably over for­eign policy and land issues-between itand the NUP. The political uncertain­ties of 1991 worsened economic anddevelopmental problems. The newadministration will need to containanglophone-francophone and regionalrivalries and to provide stable andeffective government if Vanuatu is tofulfill its potential.

STEPHEN HENNINGHAM

References

Adams, Ron. 1991. Vanuatu. The Contem­porary Pacific 3: 418-421.

Age. Daily, Melbourne.

Henningham, Stephen. 1989. Pluralism andParty Politics in a South Pacific State:Vanuatu's Ruling Vanua'akuPati and ItsRivals. Conflict 9: 171-195.

IBP, Islands Business Pacific. Monthly,Suva.

PIM, Pacific Islands Monthly. Suva.

PR, Pacific Report. Fortnightly newsletter,Canberra.

Van Trease, Howard. 1991. ElectionResults. Vanuatu Weekly, r4 December:II-12.

VW, Vanuatu Weekly. Vila.