Vanuatu: Government#
| Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Vanuatu conventional short form: Vanuatu local long form: Ripablik blong Vanuatu local short form: Vanuatu former: New Hebrides etymology: derived from the words "vanua" (home or land) and "tu" (stand) that occur in several of the Austonesian languages spoken on the islands and which provide the meaning of "independence" or the sense of "our land" |
|---|---|
| Government type | parliamentary republic |
| Capital | Port-Vila (on Efate)
Port-Vila (on Efate)
geographic coordinates: 17 44 S, 168 19 E time difference: UTC+11 (16 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) |
| Administrative divisions | 6 provinces; Malampa, Penama, Sanma, Shefa, Tafea, Torba |
| Independence | 30 July 1980 (from France and the UK) |
| National holiday | Independence Day, 30 July (1980) |
| Constitution | effective 30 July 1980; amended several times, last in 2013 (2016) |
| Legal system | mixed legal system of English common law, French law, and customary law |
| International law organization participation | has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction |
| Citizenship | 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 |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch | chief of state: President Baldwin LONSDALE (since 22 September 2014) 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 September 2014 (next to be held in 2019); 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) elected president; Parliament vote - 46 out of 52 on the eighth ballot; Charlot SALWAI elected prime minister on 11 February 2016 with 46 votes |
| Legislative branch | description: unicameral Parliament (52 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 4-year terms) 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, VPDP 1, VRP 1, and independent 4; 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 |
| 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) |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | NA |
| 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 the US | the US does not have an embassy in Vanuatu; the US Ambassador to Papua New Guinea is accredited to Vanuatu |
| Flag description | two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and green with a black isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) all separated by a black-edged yellow stripe in the shape of a horizontal Y (the two points of the Y face the hoist side and enclose the triangle); centered in the triangle is a boar's tusk encircling two crossed namele fern fronds, all in yellow; red represents the blood of boars and men, as well as unity, green the richness of the islands, and black the ni-Vanuatu people; the yellow Y-shape - which reflects the pattern of the islands in the Pacific Ocean - symbolizes the light of the Gospel spreading through the islands; the boar's tusk is a symbol of prosperity frequently worn as a pendant on the islands; the fern fronds represent peace note: one of several flags where a prominent component of the design reflects the shape of the country; other such flags are those of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, and Eritrea |
| National symbol(s) | boar's tusk with crossed fern fronds; national colors: red, black, green, yellow |
| National anthem | name: "Yumi, Yumi, Yumi" (We, We, We) lyrics/music: Francois Vincent AYSSAV note: adopted 1980; the anthem is written in Bislama, a Creole language that mixes Pidgin English and French |