1979 New Hebridean general election

General elections were held in the New Hebrides on 14 November 1979, the last before independence the following year. The result was a victory for the Vanua'aku Pati, which won 25 of the 39 seats, with its partner party Natui Tanno winning one. Voter turnout was 90.3%.[1]

Vanuatu
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Vanuatu

Background

Prior to the elections, the New Hebrides Federal Party was formed by former members of Tanunion and Natatok, as well as members of Nagriamel.[2]

Results
Party Votes % Seats
Vanua'aku Pati28,63661.6625
New Hebrides Federal Party5,74212.365
Moderate Party2,7315.882
Namangi Aute1,9854.272
Jon Frum Movement1,0502.261
Kapiel9852.121
Natui Tanno7191.551
Kastom6831.40
Natatok6401.380
Tabwemasana1550.330
Independents3,7968.172
Invalid/blank votes418––
Total47,54010039
Registered voters/turnout52,63690.32–
Source: Zorgbibe[3]

Aftermath

After it was announced that the Vanua'aku Pati had also won a majority on the regional assembly election of Espiritu Santo were announced, supporters of Nagriamel and Tabwemasana took to the streets with weapons to tell immigrants to leave the island. Almost 360 people took sanctuary in the Anglican church compound and around 350–500 people fled the island.[4]

On 29 November the Representative Assembly elected Walter Lini as Chief Minister. Lini received 26 votes, defeating Gérard Leymang who received three; three members abstained and seven MHAs from Espiritu Santo boycotted the session, claiming there had been electoral fraud.[4]

Position Member
Chief Minister
Minister of Justice		Walter Lini
Deputy Chief Minister
Minister of the Interior		George Kalkoa
Minister of EducationDonald Kalpokas
Minister of FinanceKalpokor Kalsakau
Minister of HealthGeorge Worek
Minister of LandsSethy Regenvanu
Minister of Natural ResourcesThomas Reuben
Minister of Social AffairsWillie Korisa
Minister of Transport, Communications and Civil AviationJohn Naupa
gollark: I bid 2¢.
gollark: Well, a few have left...
gollark: This nonsense AGAIN? No.
gollark: The memes here have a Meme Quality Index of -7.3, which is of course very not good.
gollark: It wouldn't be very useful.

See also

References
  1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p839 ISBN 0-19-924959-8
  2. NH right to try uniting Pacific Islands Monthly, May 1979, p35
  3. Charles Zorgbibe (1981) "Vanuatu, naissance d'un état", Économica, pp110–115
  4. New Hebrides: High hopes haunted by high danger Pacific Islands Monthly, January 1980, pp13–14
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