Vanuatu Government

Who is the president of Vanuatu?

Executive Branch:

chief of state: President Tallis Obed MOSES (since 6 July 2017)

head of government: Prime Minister Charlot SALWAI (since 11 February 2016)

cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister, responsible to parliament

elections/appointments: president indirectly elected by an electoral college consisting of Parliament and presidents of the 6 provinces; Vanuatu president serves a 5-year term; election last held on 17 June 2017 (next to be held in 2022); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually elected prime minister by parliament from among its members; election for prime minister last held on 11 February 2016 (next to be held following general elections in 2020)

election results: Baldwin LONSDALE (independent) died suddenly on 17 June 2017; Parliament elected Tallis Obed MOSES on 6 July 2017 with a 39 to 17 vote in the fourth round; Charlot SALWAI elected prime minister on 11 February 2016 with 46 votes

Citizenship Criteria:

citizenship by birth: no

citizenship by descent only: both parents must be citizens of Vanuatu; in the case of only one parent, it must be the father who is a citizen

dual citizenship recognized: no

residency requirement for naturalization: 10 years

Legal System:

mixed legal system of English common law, French law, and customary law

Suffrage:

18 years of age; universal

Legislative Branch:

description:

description: unicameral Parliament (52 seats; members directly elected in 8 single-seat and 9multi-seat constituencies by single non-transferable vote to serve 4-year terms (some candidates in multi-seat constituencies can be elected with as little as 4 percent of the vote)

elections: last held on 22 January 2016 (next to be held in 2020)

election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - VP 8, PPP 6, UMP 5, GJP 4, NUP 4, IG 3, GC 3, NAG 3, RMC 3, MPP 2, NIPDP 2, PSP 1, VLDP 1, VNP 1, VNDP 1, VRP 1, independent 4; composition - men 52, women 0; percent of women 0%; note - political party associations are fluid

note: the National Council of Chiefs advises on matters of culture and language

Judicial Branch:

highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the chief justice and 6 justices - 3 local and 4 expatriate); note - appeals beyond the Supreme Court are considered by the Court of Appeal, constituted by 2 or more judges of the Supreme Court sitting together

judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court chief justice appointed by the president after consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition; other judges are appointed by the president on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission, a 4-member advisory body; judges appointed until age of retirement

subordinate courts: Magistrates Courts; Island Courts

Regions or States:

6 provinces; Malampa, Penama, Sanma, Shefa, Tafea, Torba

Political Parties and Leaders:

Greens Confederation or GC [Moana CARCASSES Kalosil]

Iauko Group or IG [Tony NARI]

Land and Justice Party (Graon mo Jastis Pati) or GJP [Ralph REGENVANU]

Melanesian Progressive Party or MPP [Barak SOPE]

Nagriamel movement or NAG [Frankie STEVENS]

Natatok Indigenous People's Democratic Party or (NATATOK) or NIPDP [Alfred Roland CARLOT]

National United Party or NUP [Ham LINI]

People's Progressive Party or PPP [Sato KILMAN]

People's Service Party or PSP [Don KEN]

Reunification of Movement for Change or RMC [Charlot SALWAI]

Union of Moderate Parties or UMP [Serge VOHOR]

Vanua'aku Pati (Our Land Party) or VP [Edward NATAPEI]

Vanuatu Democratic Party [Maxime Carlot KORMAN]

Vanuatu Liberal Democratic Party or VLDP [Tapangararua WILLIE]

Vanuatu National Party or VNP [Issac HAMARILIU]

Vanuatu National Development Party or VNDP [Robert Bohn SIKOL]

Vanuatu Republican Party or VRP [Marcellino PIPITE]

International Law Organization Participation:

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

International Organization Participation:

ACP, ADB, AOSIS, C, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, IOC, IOM, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NAM, OAS (observer), OIF, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic Representation in the US:

Vanuatu does not have an embassy in the US; it does, however, have a Permanent Mission to the UN

Diplomatic Representation from US:

the US does not have an embassy in Vanuatu; the US Ambassador to Papua New Guinea is accredited to Vanuatu