Politics in Vanuatu : the 1991 Elections

Ethno-Linguistic Accomodation and Party Competition*

by

Ralph R. PREMDAS1 and Jeffrey S. STEEVES2

The 1991 national elections in the Republic of Vanuatu marked the decline of the Anglophone- based Vanua'aku Pati (VP) and the beginning of ethno-linguistic coalition politics. The small South West Pacific state of barely 150 000 people had been ruled from 1979 to 1991 by Fr. Walter Lini's VP government which was almost entirely Anglophone in personnel and policy. In a country which is marked by a major religio-linguistic rift between Protestant Anglophone ni-Vanuatu and Catholic Francophone ni-Vanuatu, in a demographic ratio of approximately 58 : 30 [with the other 12 % speaking only indigenous languages],3 the VP approach to political life promoted discontent and disunity. The VP regime was more than just jaundised in favour of Anglophone ni-Vanuatu; it seemed to be systematically set on a course towards Anglicising the state. No more than 10 % of the civil service was constituted of Francophone ni-Vanuatu; no cabinet member was Francophone. External advisors were almost entirely Anglophone. A hostile foreign policy was projected against France's presence in the Pacific. The sectional tenor was unmistakable.4 The VP government's practices were propagated through its party apparatus, perhaps the most comprehensive

nizationally in the Pacific Islands,5 penetrating all aspects of ni-Vanuatu life.

But VP rule under Lini was not only Franco- phobic. It was almost intolerant of all dissension within its own ranks; it was often preoccupied with ferretting out those suspected of being anti-Party and frequently deported expatriates critical of government performance. During its final days of power, Lini fired one after another of his ministers and close associates. The once impregnable VP was riven internally by factional infighting setting the stage for a successful parliamentary vote of no- confidence. After Lini's fall in September 1991, a great sigh of relief was experienced throughout the country. Two major fragments of the VP emerged each pretending to the successor mantle of the original VP. While the Kalpokas faction of the party won, evicted Lini from the party, and assumed power, in the subsequent new elections the Kalpokas-led Vanua'aku Pati was in turn ousted from office and a new Francophone/Anglophone coalition replaced it. This was a major watershed in the evolution of post-independence politics and promised a radical departure from the policies and practices of the past.6 The Francophone UMP, long living in political exile, ironically joined forces