The Friend Melanesian Party (FMP) is a political party in

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

. The party is usually seen as close to the

Union of Moderate Parties 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 party's inf ...

History

The FMP was formed in 1975 by French-speaking Protestant Pisovuke Albert Ravutia as a reaction to the success of the New Hebrides National Party.The political parties and groupings of Vanuatu
ALP International ProjectsHoward Van Trease (1995) ''Melanesian Politics: Stael Blong Vanuatu'', p225 In 1981 it joined the francophone

alliance, but due to the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

dominance of the alliance in contrast to the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

majority in the FMP, it opted to remain an individual party and fielded candidates against the UMP. In the 1983 general elections the party received 2.3% of the vote, winning a single seat in

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, aligning itself with the UMP. It retained its seat in the

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and 1995 elections, but did not contest the

1998 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1998. Africa * 1998 Burkinabé presidential election * 1998 Central African parliamentary election * 1998 Gabonese presidential election * 1998 Guinean presidential election * 1998 Lesotho general elect ...

. The party returned to Parliament after winning one seat in the

2002 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2002. * 2002 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2002 Comorian presidential election * 2002 East Timorese presidential election * 2002 Fijian municipal election * 2002 Hong Kong Chief Executive election * ...

, but lost it in the 2004 elections. It also remained seatless after the

2008 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2008. * Electoral calendar 2008 * 2008 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 2008 Angolan legislative election * 2008 Anjouan presidential election * 2008 Republic of the Congo Senate elec ...

. In the

2012 elections * 2012 United Nations Security Council election Africa Egypt * 2012 Egyptian presidential election Mali * 2012 Malian presidential election * 2012 Malian parliamentary election Senegal * 2012 Senegalese presidential election * 2012 Senegalese p ...

the party nominated three candidates. It received 0.9% of the vote, failing to win a seat. In the

2016 elections Africa Benin Republic *2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 10 April 2016 Djibouti * 2016 Djiboutian presidential ...

the party fielded two candidates, winning one seat; Edwin Amblus in Santo.Unofficial results
Vanuatu Daily Post, 25 January 2016 However the party lost its parliamentary representation following the 2020 election and failed to get it back in the 2022 one.

Election results

Parliament

References

{{Vanuatuan political parties Political parties in Vanuatu 1975 establishments in the New Hebrides Political parties established in 1975