Union of Moderate Parties

The Union of Moderate Parties (French: Union des partis moderés) is a liberal political party in Vanuatu founded in 1981.^[1] At the last general election, held on 22 January 2016, they won 9.73% of the vote and 6 seats. It is currently headed by Ishmael Kalsakau.^[2]

Union of Moderate Parties Union des partis moderés
Leader	Ishmael Kalsakau
Founder	Maxime Carlot Korman
Founded	1981
Merger of	New Hebrides Federal Party, Moderate Party
Ideology	Liberal conservatism Decentralisation Francophone interests
Political position	Centre-right
Parliament	7 / 52
Port Vila Municipal Council	3 / 18
Party flag
Website
Facebook page
Politics of Vanuatu Political parties Elections

The party's influence grew after internal difficulties caused the Vanua'aku Pati government to fall in 1991. The UMP was the governing party in Vanuatu from 1991 to 1998. Former prime ministers Maxime Carlot Korman and Serge Vohor came from this party. However, the UMP suffered internal struggles of its own, and in the late 1990s, Corman left to form the Vanuatu Republican Party. Serge Vohor who hails from the Island Of Santo remains the president of UMP. It won 12 seats in the 1998 elections, 15 seats in the 2002 elections and 9 seats in the 2004 elections. Despite the obvious setback, Vohor was able to form a coalition government in August 2004, but lost a confidence vote four months later. From then until the 2008 elections, Vohor and the UMP sometimes were coalition partners in the Lini government, and at other times were in the opposition, serving as the largest opposition force. After the 2008 elections, the party remains an important political grouping, but is not expected to form the next government.

Serge Vohor led the party from 1988 to 2022. In February 2012, he was re-elected leader of the party, prior to the general election in October. This marks a longevity record for the leadership of any political party in Vanuatu.^[3] However, in August 2022, he lost the leadership position at the UMP congress to Ishmael Kalsakau by a vote of 45 delegates to 22. After the party congress, Vohor left the party and formed a new party called the Pikinini Along Graon (Children of the Land) Movement.^[4]

Following the October 2022 snap election Ishamel Kalsakau, who had been deputy prime minister in the previous cabinet, was appointed prime minister with the support of the previous Leader of Opposition, Ralph Regenvanu of the Land and Justice Party.^[5]

Election results

Parliament

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Government
1983	Maxime Carlot Korman	12,647	28.64 (#2)	12 / 39	New	Opposition
1987		22,443	39.87 (#2)	19 / 46	7	Opposition
1991		19,016	30.58 (#1)	19 / 46	0	Coalition
1995		20,865	27.44 (#2)	17 / 50	2	Coalition
1998	Serge Vohor	13,833	20.06 (#2)	12 / 52	5	Opposition
2002		11,989	15.15 (#2)	15 / 52	3	Opposition
2004		13,852	15.02 (#1)	8 / 52	7	Coalition
2008		11,223	10.67 (#3)	7 / 52	1	Opposition
2012		14,675	12.19 (#1)	5 / 52	2	Opposition
2016		10,999	9.73 (#2)	6 / 52	1	Coalition
2020	Ishmael Kalsakau	11,043	7.67 (#5)	5 / 52	1	Coalition
2022		15,223	11.51 (#2)	7 / 52	2	Coalition

References

1. "The political parties and groupings of Vanuatu" (PDF). August 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
2. Wroe, David (April 14, 2018). "Vanuatu's potential PM sounds the alarm on Chinese intentions". The Sydney Morning Herald.
3. "UMP Congress expel their rebels" Archived March 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Vanuatu Daily Post, 1 March 2012
4. "Vohor launches new political party".
5. Manassah, Kiery (11 November 2022). "Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau's opportunity to write his own story". DevPolicy Blog. Retrieved 11 December 2022.