The Vanuatu Labour Party (; ) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

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 was established on 3 June 1987. It was founded on the initiative of various

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

organizations in order to contest the 1987 parliamentary election. The proposal to found the party was first presented by

Ephraim Kalsakau Ephraim Kalsakau (or Éphraïm Kalsakau

, a leader of the Vanuatu Municipal Workers Union. In the 1987 polls, it presented four candidates; George Kalsakau in

Port Vila Port Vila ( ; ), or simply Vila (), is the capital of Vanuatu and its largest city. It is on the island of Efate, in Shefa Province. The population was 49,034 as of the 2020 census. In 2020, the population of Port Vila formed 16.3% of the ...

, Willy Romain in Tanna, Thomas Reynold 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 ...

and Kenneth Satungia of

Efate Efate (), also known as Île Vate (), is an island in the Pacific Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in Vanuatu. Geography It is the most populous (approx. 66,000) island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of makes it Vanuatu's third larg ...

. All four candidates were trade union leaders. Ephraim Kalsakau later claimed that the electoral participation was mainly intended as an awareness-raising effort, and that the party hadn't expected to win any of the seats. The party did not present candidates in the 1991 parliamentary election. The party gained parliamentary representation in 2005 as

Joshua Kalsakau Joshua Tafura Kalsakau is a Vanuatuan politician. In 2005 Kalsakau, then the Minister for Ni-Vanuatu Business and an MP from Efate representing the National Community Association, National Community Association Party, joined the Vanuatu Labour Part ...

, then the Minister for Ni-Vanuatu Business and an MP from Efate representing the

National Community Association Party National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, joined the party. Joshua Kalsakau is the president of the party whilst Lui Kaltonga is its general secretary. The party is connected to the

Vanuatu Council of Trade Unions The Vanuatu Council of Trade Unions (VCTU), in French ''Conseil des syndicats de Vanuatu'',Vanuatu National Workers Union 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 main stronghold of the party in the capital Port Vila. Joshua Kalsakau was reelected from his seat in the 2008 parliamentary election. In Luganville, the party had launched Pierre Malamlaen as its candidate. Malamlaen was however not elected. After the elections, Joshua Kalsakau was named as the new Minister of Justice in the cabinet of

Edward Natapei Edward Nipake Natapei Tuta Fanua`araki (17 July 1954 – 28 July 2015) was a Vanuatuan politician. He was the prime minister of Vanuatu on two occasions, and was previously the minister of Foreign Affairs briefly in 1991, the acting president of ...

. In the 2012 general election, Kalsakau narrowly lost his seat, by a margin of just twelve votes (out of more than 15,000), leaving Labour without representation in Parliament.Results of the 2012 general election
Adam Carr

References

{{Political parties in Vanuatu Political parties in Vanuatu Political parties established in 1987 *Main Labour parties