Roger Tom Abiut (born 1972) is a

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 ...

an politician. He served as

speaker of Parliament The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hun ...

of that country and, in that capacity, served as acting president twice in 2004.

Biography

Abiut is a member of the

Vanuatu Labour Party The Vanuatu Labour Party (; ) is a political party in Vanuatu. The party was established on 3 June 1987. It was founded on the initiative of various trade union organizations in order to contest the 1987 Vanuatuan general election, 1987 parliamen ...

. After becoming the Speaker of Parliament in December 2003, he became acting president on March 24, 2004, when the five-year term of President

John Bani John Bennett Bani (born 1 July 1941) is a former Vanuatuan politician who was the president of Vanuatu from 25 March 1999 to 24 March 2004. He is an Anglican priest from Pentecost Island, and is one of the founders of the Cultural Association whi ...

expired. He served in that position until April 12, when a new president,

Alfred Maseng Alfred Maseng Nalo (10 January 1949 – 18 November 2004) was a Vanuatuan politician. He served as List of Speakers of the Parliament of Vanuatu, speaker of the Parliament from December 1991 to November 1995, and foreign minister from 1995 until ...

was elected by the parliament and the presidents of the regional councils. Maseng was removed as president on May 11, 2004, and Abiut became acting president again. Abiut lost his seat in Parliament shortly thereafter, in the parliamentary elections of July 7, 2004, and therefore lost his positions as speaker of parliament and acting President on July 28, 2004, at the first session of Parliament. The Vanuatu Labor Party no longer has any representatives in Parliament.

References

New Zealand International News, "New Vanuatu speaker calls for unity to help investment"
1972 births Living people Members of the Parliament of Vanuatu Speakers of the Parliament of Vanuatu Presidents of Vanuatu Vanuatu Labour Party politicians 21st-century Vanuatuan politicians {{Vanuatu-politician-stub