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The Prime Minister
The Prime Minister of Vanuatu is the head of the Government. The Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and Parliament. The Prime Minister has a responsibility for the effective operations of the whole government and often has to answer in the House for the Operation of all department and agencies.
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History of Vanuatu
Vanuatu uses what is called "the Westminster model" of government. Like most Commonwealth countries, this is actually different in some important ways from the British system whose Parliament is at Westminster. That one has:
- Parliamentary sovereignty.
- A head of state with few powers.
- A bipartisan (two-sided) and bicameral structure (with an Upper and a Lower House of Parliament).
- Executive control through a strong one-party Government.
- A suffrage-based electoral system (people, not only land-owners, vote) and;
- No entrenched (hard-to-change) Constitution
In most Commonwealth countries, those have changed. Parties may still be strong, but there are usually more than two of them, and the Government may be formed from more than one (a coalition government), though the executive may still be controlled by a one-party Cabinet. Many countries now have a written Constitution which is entrenched - built in to the structure of the government - and can only be changed with extra difficulty.
The Vanuatu form of government is quite similar to those of other Commonwealth countries. What makes it different is the French influence. That is probably why the Head of State is called the "President" and not, say, the "Governor". Unlike other Pacific states, the colonial Government never installed a local government, whether French or British, so what has come out is designed especially for the needs of Vanuatu. An example of that is the National Council of Chiefs (Malvatumauri), which is elected, and has advisory powers under Articles 27 and 28 of the Constitution.
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About Vanuatu Parliament
Parliament of Vanuatu
Vanuatu has a Parliamentary democracy political system which is currently headed by a President who has primarily ceremonial powers and who is elected for 5-year terms by a two-thirds majority of an electoral college. This electoral college consists of Members of Parliament and the Presidents of Regional Councils.The President may be removed by the electoral college for gross misconduct or incapacity. The Prime Minister, who is the head of Government, is elected by a majority vote of a three-fourths quorum of the Parliament. The Prime Minister, in turn, appoints the Council of Ministers, whose number may not exceed a quarter of the number of Parliamentary representatives. The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers constitute the executive Government.
The Parliament of Vanuatu is unicameral and has 52 members who are elected by popular vote every four years, unless earlier dissolved by a majority vote of a three-quarters quorum or by a directive from the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Vanuatu uses what is called "the Westminster model" of government. Like most Commonwealth countries, this is actually different in some important ways from the British system whose Parliament is at Westminster.
The Vanuatu form of Government is quite similar to other Commonwealth countries. What makes it different is the French influence. This is probably why the Head of State is called "President" and not "Governor". Unlike other Pacific states, the colonial Government never installed a local Government. whether British or French, so what has come out is designed especially for the need of Vanuatu. An example of that is the National Council of Chiefs (Malvatumauri) which is elected and has advisory under Articles 27 and 28 of the Constitution
The President
The role of President seems to conflict with the supremacy of Parliament which is part of the Westminster model. But the President cannot over-rule Parliament unless the Supreme Court has ruled that Parliament has broken the Constitution. The President is not elected directly by the people. The Constitution grants the President only a restricted role. The President is something of a figure-head. (respected but with no power)like the Monarch of Britain or the Governor-General for a country.
The Westminster model is one thing in theory and another in practice. Vanuatu has important features like the Council of Ministers written into its Constitution. The Constitution is entrenched, it can only be changed by a
two thirds majority of three-quarters of the members of Parliament and for some issues only after a national referendum.
The Constitution gives complete jurisdiction about Constitutional matters to the Supreme Court. This means the Judiciary can stop the Executive from using its power wrongly, following the principle of the Separation of the Powers. Usually the real center of the system is a powerful Cabinet..
Both French and British Laws that applied before Independence continue unless they are inconsistent with independent status. There is a trend towards the use of common law rather than other possible systems. That is because it fits in with Vanuatu having a Government and constitutional system that is related to the Commonwealth version of the Westminster system. Vanuatu has a rich mixture of systems borrowed from the various forms of government, but the main influence is British law in both Parliament and the Judiciary.
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The Leader of Government Business
The Leader of government business is an important figure in Parliament. They are in charge of government business in the House which is presented in the Parliament. The Leader of Government Business must be conscious of his responsibilities to the Government, the government own supporters, the government back benchers.
The Leader of Government Business is responsible for:
- The affairs of the national executive in Parliament.
- The programming of parliamentary business initiated by the national executive within the time allocated for the purpose.
- Ensuring that cabinet members attend to their parliamentary responsibilities.
- Performing any other functions provided for by the Standing Order rules or a resolution of the National Parliament of the Republic of Vanuatu.
- Seconding bills moved by Ministers.
- Chairing Committee meetings on all procedural motions regularly consulting with the leader of official position.
- In charge of the governments debating team notifying the house on when to adjourn anytime.
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The Leader of Government Whip is appointed by the Prime Minister to help organize the executive to the Parliamentary business. It is also to ensure party discipline in a legislature, help manage legislative business and carry out a variety of other functions on behalf of the Leader of the Executive. The Leader of Government Whip is to ensure that sufficient number of government members are present in the Chamber to ensure passage of government legislation and measures and to prevent censure motions succeeding and to ensure presence of a parliamentary quorum.
The role of the Government Whip includes:
- Monitoring MP's absences from Parliament and maintaining detailed vote analysis.
- Count tally votes during sittings.
- MP's entitlements to be absent during sittings.
- Day to day running of the Chamber.
- Play a vital role in voting. During each vote, Leader of Government Whips ensure that their fellow Government Members are present and seated on the correct side of the house while votes are counted.
- Dealing with general enquiries from MP's and the general public.
- Assisting the Government with selection of membership and attendance for Standing Committees and Ad Hoc Committees.
- Making sure the maximum number if their party members vote, and vote the way the government MP's wants according to their platform.
