Walter Hadye Lin̄i (1942 – 21 February 1999) was a Raga Anglican priest and politician who was the first

Prime Minister of Vanuatu The prime minister of Vanuatu is the head of government of the Republic of Vanuatu. The office of Prime Minister was created under the Constitution of Vanuatu upon the country's independence in 1980, with independence campaigner Walter Lini ...

, from independence in 1980 to 1991. He was born at Agatoa village,

Pentecost Island Pentecost Island is one of the 83 islands that make up the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu. It lies due north of capital Port Vila. Pentecost Island is known as in French and in Bislama. The island was known in its native languages by na ...

. On his mother's side, he was a descendant of the high chief Virasangvulu, while on his father's side, he was descended from the famous weaver, Nuenue, as well as from the high chief Viralalau.Lini, W. 1980. ''Beyond Pandemonium: From the New Hebrides to Vanuatu.'' Asia Pacific Books and the Institute of Pacific Studies, Wellington and Suva, pp. 7-15 Lini was a key figure in Vanuatu's struggle for independence. He was a key proponent of

Melanesian socialism The concept of Melanesian socialism was first advocated by Father Walter Lini of the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu), who became the country's first Prime Minister upon its independence from France and the United Kingdom in 1980. Lini's views on soci ...

Early life

Lin̄i started school at the age of five when he attended the Australian Missionary Sunday School at Lamalanga on North Pentecost. In 1950, he began attending Nazareth School at Agatoa. From there, he attended Vureas School on Aoba. After finishing school, Lin̄i worked in the Anglican Diocesan office at Lolowai, before undertaking theological training at St Peter's College in

Siota Siota is a region on the north side of Nggela Island at the western end of Utuhu Passage in the Central Province of Solomon Islands, a state in the southwest Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oc ...

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its ca ...

and

St John's College, Auckland The College of St John the Evangelist or St Johns Theological College, is the residential theological college of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The site at Meadowbank in Auckland is the base for theological educatio ...

. After returning from his studies in New Zealand, Lin̄i, along with Donald Kalpokas and John Bani, formed the New Hebrides Cultural Association and launched its mouthpiece newspaper, ''New Hebrides Viewpoint''.Lini, W. 1980. ''Beyond Pandemonium: From the New Hebrides to Vanuatu.'' Asia Pacific Books and the Institute of Pacific Studies, Wellington and Suva, pp. 24-27 At that time, New Hebrides was a

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...

ruled by the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. Soon after the formation of the New Hebrides Cultural Association, Lin̄i and others formed the New Hebrides National Party (NHNP), with Lin̄i responsible for publishing the newspaper as well as recruiting party members on Aoba, North

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers o ...

and

Maewo Maewo (; formerly ''Aurora Island'') is an island in Vanuatu in Penama province, 105 km to the east of Espiritu Santo. It is 47 km long, and 6 km wide, with an area of 269 km2. Its highest point is 795 m above sea l ...

. In 1974, the Party Congress elected Lin̄i as full-time national president of the party, with

Fred Timakata Frederick "Fred" Karlomuana Timakata (1936 – 21 March 1995) was a Ni-Vanuatu politician who served as the president of Vanuatu from 1989 to 1994. Timakata was born at Makatea Village on the island of Emae, in the Shepherd Group. He atte ...

vice-president. In May, 1974, Lin̄i addressed the United Nations Committee of 24 on decolonisation, and called for independence for the New Hebrides by 1977.

Political career

Lin̄i was instrumental in the NHNP changing its name to 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 ...

(VP). He was elected Chief Minister following the VP's victory in the

1979 New Hebridean general election General elections were held in the New Hebrides on 14 November 1979, the last before independence the following year. The result was a victory for the Vanua'aku Pati, which won 25 of the 39 seats, with its partner party Natui Tanno winning one. Vo ...

,Matas-Kele-Kele, K. 1980. Background to 'The Vanuaaku Movement': Political Parties, in Lini, W. ''Beyond Pandemonium: From the New Hebrides to Vanuatu.'' Asia Pacific Books and the Institute of Pacific Studies, Wellington and Suva, pp. 29 and ascended to the position of Prime Minister upon Vanuatu's independence on July 30, 1980. Lin̄i went on to lead the VP to victory in the

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

and the

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...

general elections. Lini suffered a stroke in 1987 but subsequently remained active in politics. Lin̄i's administration was very controversial in because of its ties with the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Su ...

, and other

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

and

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

countries viewed with disdain by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

and its staunch opposition to

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space * Nuclear ...

testing in the region. He was the primary advocate of

. Lini was a critic of Western market economies, arguing that they caused poverty in the Third World. Vanuatu was a part of the non-aligned movement. Vanuatu provided support to the

Kanak The Kanak ( French spelling until 1984: Canaque) are the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific. According to the 2019 census, the Kanak make up 41.2% of New Caledoni ...

indigenous independence movement in New Caledonia and was the only country in the region to support the independence of

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-we ...

, then under Indonesian occupation, to

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a '' jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It st ...

. In 1988, President

Ati George Sokomanu Ati George Sokomanu, (born George Kalkoa; 13 January 1937) is a Vanuatuan politician who served as the first president of Vanuatu from 1984 to 1989. Early life Born in 1937 in Mele, Sokomanu was educated at Iririki District School in Port Vil ...

sought unsuccessfully to remove Lini from office. His term ended in 1991, due to factionalism within his party. He joined the National United Party, of which he was leader at the time of his death. He died of an illness in Vanuatu's capital

Port Vila Port Vila (french: Port-Vila), or simply Vila (; french: Vila; bi, Vila ), is the capital and largest city of Vanuatu. It is located on the island of Efate. Its population in the last census (2009) was 44,040, an increase of 35% on the p ...

Personal life

His sister,

Hilda Lin̄i Hilda is one of several female given names derived from the name ''Hild'', formed from Old Norse , meaning 'battle'. Hild, a Nordic-German Bellona, was a Valkyrie who conveyed fallen warriors to Valhalla. Warfare was often called Hild's Game. Th ...

, and brother,

Ham Lin̄i Ham Lin̄i Vanuaroroa (born 8 December 1951) is a ni-Vanuatu politician. He is a former MP from Pentecost Island in Penama Province. He was Prime Minister of Vanuatu from 11 December 2004 until 22 September 2008, and is the current Deputy Prime ...

, are also politicians in Vanuatu. His sister Heather Lin̄i-Leo Matas was the first indigenous female lawyer in the country.

Notes

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Stuart, Andrew. ''Of Cargoes, Colonies and Kings: Diplomatic and Administrative Service from Africa to the Pacific'', Radcliffe Press, 2009. * Robie, David. ''Blood on their Banner : Nationalist Struggles in the South Pacific'', Zed Books, 1990. * Premadas, Ralph R. ''Melanesian socialism: Vanuatu's quest for self-definition (Discussion paper series / Centre for Developing-Area Studies)'', McGill University, 1986. * Lin̄i, Walter. ''Beyond pandemonium: From the New Hebrides to Vanuatu''. Asia Pacific Books, 1980. * Lin̄i, Walter, ed. ''Vanuatu: Twenti Wan Tingting Long Team Blong Independents'', Institute of Pacific Studies, 1980. * Shears, Richard. ''The Coconut War: The Crisis on Espiritu Santo'', Cassel, 1980. * Tabani, Marc. 2000
"Walter Lin̄i, la coutume de Vanuatu et le Socialisme Mélanésien"
''

Journal de la Société des Océanistes A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: * Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

'' 111(2): 173–195. Prime Ministers of Vanuatu Presidents of Vanuatu Vanuatuan Anglican priests Vanua'aku Pati politicians Vanuatuan socialists 1942 births 1999 deaths History of Vanuatu People from Penama Province 1970s in Vanuatu 1980s in Vanuatu Anglican socialists Oceanian Christian socialists Members of the Parliament of Vanuatu {{Vanuatu-politician-stub