The Iauko Group () or Eagle Group 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 ...

History

The party was established by Harry Iauko after he left the

Vanua'aku Pati The Vanua'aku Pati () is a democratic socialist political party in Vanuatu. History The party was founded on 17 August 1971 by Walter Lini as the New Hebridean Cultural Association, renamed later that same year as the New Hebrides National Part ...

prior to the 2012 general elections.Tom Lansford (2015) ''Political Handbook of the World 2015'', CQ Press The party nominated six candidates, winning three of the 52 seats 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 ...

; Tony Nari in

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...

, Hosea Nevu in Santo and Iauko in Tanna. Iauko died in December 2012, but the subsequent by-election was won by his son Pascal Iauko. However, he lost his seat in parliament in 2015 after being convicted of bribery. In October 2013, the Iauko Group, under the leadership of Tony Nari, supported the Vanua'aku Pati, and joined Prime Minister Carcasses' parliamentary majority.

Rural Development Party

On 11 December 2014, two years after the death of founder Harry Iauko, the Iauko Group was also known as the

Rural Development Party The Rural Development Party was a political party in Papua New Guinea. It was founded in November 2006 by Esa’ala MP Moses Maladina, who became the party's first leader. In May 2007, media reports suggested that some members were unhappy with ...

(RDP). MPs in 2015 that associated with RDP included: Tony Ngari (party leader), Hosea Nevu, Thomas Laken. John Amos, Jonas James, and Pascal Iauko. MPs Samsen Samson and Havo Moli have also declared affiliations with RDP. The party supported the governments of

Sato Kilman Meltek Sato Kilman Livtuvanu (born 30 December 1957) is a Vanuatuan politician who served as the Prime Minister of Vanuatu on four previous occasions, most recently from 4 September to 6 October 2023. he was previously prime minister from Decembe ...

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 eight candidates, winning four seats; Nevu was re-elected in Santo, Marc Ati was elected in

Luganville Luganville is the second largest city in Vanuatu after the capital Port Vila; it is located on the island of Espiritu Santo and has a population of 18,062 as of the 2020 census. Those on Vanuatu's northern islands who regard Luganville as their ...

, Jay Ngwele in

Ambae Ambae, also known as Aoba, Omba, Oba, or Opa and formerly Lepers’ Island, is an island in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, approximately north-northwest of Vanuatu's capital city, Port Vila. It is also Vanuatu's largest activ ...

and Kalo Pakoa Songi Lano in

Tongoa Tongoa is an inhabited island in Shefa Province of Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean. Geography Tongoa is the largest island of Shepherd Islands archipelago. The island is heavily vegetated and shows geothermal activity. Tongoa is of recent volcanic ...

. In 2017, RDP members signed a solidarity pact with the

Leaders Party of Vanuatu The Leaders Party of Vanuatu (LPV) is a political party in Vanuatu. History The party was formed in 2015 by Jothan Napat, a former director general of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Utilities. In the 2016 elections Africa Benin R ...

(LPV) in front of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Charlot Salwai, reaffirming support for the coalition government. Members at that time included MP Jay Ngwele, Tom Nouam and Kalo Pakoa. They also supported the

(VP) in 2018. According to the

World Factbook ''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a reference resource produced by the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print ver ...

IG and RDP were listed as the same party IG from 2016 to 2019.

Split from RDP

In 2020, the RDP and IG ran their own candidates for the

2020 Vanuatuan general election General elections were held in Vanuatu on 19–20 March 2020. The elections were initially intended to be held on 19 March, but logistical problems resulted in some areas voting the following day. Electoral system The 52 members of Parliament w ...

. In 18 October 2022, following the

2022 Vanuatuan general election Snap general elections were held in Vanuatu on 13 October 2022 to elect all 52 seats in Parliament of Vanuatu, Parliament. president of Vanuatu, President Nikenike Vurobaravu dissolved Parliament in August 2022 on advice of the Council of Ministe ...

, which was a

snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Snap elections in parliamentary systems are often called to resolve a political impasse such as a hung parliament where no single political party has a ma ...

, it was reported that RDP, IG, VP, and National United Party (NUP) were not included in the signing of the pact for the new government formation.

Election results

Parliament

References

Political parties in Vanuatu Political parties established in 2012 2012 establishments in Vanuatu {{Oceania-party-stub