The politics of Vanuatu take place within the framework of a constitutional democracy. The constitution provides for a representative parliamentary system. The head of the Republic is an elected president. The prime minister of Vanuatu is the head of government.
Edward Nipake Natapei Tuta Fanua`araki was a Vanuatuan politician. He was the prime minister of Vanuatu on two occasions, and was previously the minister of Foreign Affairs briefly in 1991, the acting president of Vanuatu from 2 March 1999 to 24 March 1999 and the deputy prime minister. He was the president of the Vanua'aku Pati, a socialist, Anglophone political party.
Rialuth Serge Vohor was a Vanuatuan politician. He hailed from the largest island of Vanuatu, Espiritu Santo, from Port Olry.
Ham Lin̄i Vanuaroroa is a ni-Vanuatu politician. He is a former MP from Pentecost Island in Penama Province. He was Prime Minister of Vanuatu from 11 December 2004 until 22 September 2008, and is the current Deputy Prime Minister since 16 May 2014. Lin̄i is the brother of Walter Lin̄i, one of the founders of the modern Republic of Vanuatu. Ham Lin̄i is the current leader of the National United Party (VNUP).
The Vanua'aku Pati is a democratic socialist political party in Vanuatu.
The National United Party is a political party in Vanuatu. It was founded by Vanuatu's independence leader Walter Lini when he broke away from the Vanua'aku Pati, alongside businessman Đinh Văn Thân. It is a social democratic party which traditionally received most of its support from English speakers.
The Union of Moderate Parties is a liberal political party in Vanuatu founded in 1981. At the last general election, held on 22 January 2016, they won 9.73% of the vote and 6 seats. It is currently headed by Ishmael Kalsakau.
The Vanuatu Republican Party is a centrist political party in Vanuatu. At the last general elections, held on 22 January 2016, they won no seats and 1.75% of the vote. Its leader is Maxime Carlot Korman, who was previously a member of the Union of Moderate Parties and had served as Prime Minister of Vanuatu while a member of the UMP. Korman and the Republican Party were part of the coalition government led by Ham Lini's National United Party from 2004 to 2008, and Korman served in the cabinet as minister of lands.
Donald Masike'Vanua Kalpokas was a Vanuatuan politician and diplomat who twice served as Prime Minister of Vanuatu.
Maxime Carlot Korman is a Vanuatuan politician, formerly serving as the speaker of the Parliament and formerly as acting president. He served as the prime minister of Vanuatu for nearly five years, first from 16 December 1991 to 21 December 1995 and again from 23 February 1996 to 30 September 1996. He was a member of the Union of Moderate Parties during his terms as prime minister, but now leads the Vanuatu Republican Party. He was the first Speaker of Parliament after independence, from July 1980 to November 1983, and also served in that capacity just before independence.
General elections were held in the Solomon Islands on 5 April 2006. No party won more than four of the fifty seats, while thirty seats went to independent candidates. A number of those subsequently formed an Association of Independent Members of Parliament, with Snyder Rini as their leader. Rini was elected prime minister by Parliament on 18 April, amidst "widespread street protests" in Honiara, which caused particular damage in the city's Chinatown. Rioters "alleged corruption and insisted that Mr. Rini had been unfairly favouring Chinese businessmen". While the riots ceased with the arrival of Australian and New Zealand peacekeeping troops the next day, the opposition soon lodged a motion of no confidence in Rini's premiership. Rini resigned on 26 April, having been Prime Minister for just eight days. Opposition parties united in a coalition and succeeded in having Manasseh Sogavare, of the Solomon Islands Social Credit Party, elected Prime Minister on 4 May.
General elections were held in Vanuatu on 6 July 2004. The Vanua'aku Pati–Vanuatu National United Party coalition won the most seats, but failed to gain a majority, which instead was cobbled together by Serge Vohor of the Union of Moderate Parties, who became Prime Minister, subsequently forming a national unity government.
General elections were held in Vanuatu on 2 September 2008. In July the Melanesian Progressive Party requested that they be postponed, contesting the constitutionality of the Peoples Representation Act No. 33 of 2007, which allegedly enabled voters in certain constituencies to vote in two constituencies. The Principal Electoral Officer, Martin Tete, confirmed that the election would take place on 2 September, as scheduled. The day was declared a national holiday, to encourage people to vote.
General elections were held in Vanuatu on 2 November 1983, the first since independence from France and the United Kingdom in 1980. The ruling Vanua'aku Pati won 24 seats, while the Union of Moderate Parties won 12. Walter Lini of the Vanua'aku Pati remained Prime Minister. Voter turnout was 74.9%.
General elections were held in Vanuatu on 30 November 1987. Ni-Vanuatu voters were invited to elect the 46 members of an expanded national Parliament, which had previously held 39 seats.
General elections were held in Vanuatu on 2 December 1991. Ni-Vanuatu voters were invited to elect the 46 members of the national Parliament.
General elections were held in Vanuatu on 6 March 1998. They "were held under the shadow of a state of emergency and were accompanied by an unusually low turnout rate", with only 64% of registered voters casting a ballot.
General elections were held in Vanuatu on 30 October 2012. The previous elections to the 52-member Parliament of Vanuatu were held in 2008. The largest parties in this election were the socialist Vanua'aku Party, which won 11 seats, and the social-democratic National United Party. Thirteen other parties as well as four independents won parliamentary seats. As a result, Edward Natapei of the Vanua'aku Party was able to become the Prime Minister. Since then, both Serge Vohor of the conservative Union of Moderate Parties and Sato Kilman of the People's Progressive Party have held that position, with Kilman being the incumbent Prime Minister of Vanuatu at the time of the 2012 election.
General elections were held in Vanuatu on 22 January 2016. The previous elections occurred in October 2012. The president of Vanuatu, Baldwin Lonsdale, dissolved the Parliament of Vanuatu in November 2015. This occurred after the conviction of 14 parliamentarians for bribery. The convicted MPs include former Prime Ministers Serge Vohor and Moana Carcasses Kalosil. The president called for a snap election to form a new government.
Legislative by-elections were held in Vanuatu on 12 December 1988 and 28 November 1989 to fill twenty-three vacant seats, including twenty-two made vacant by a political crisis.
