Edward Natapei facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Edward Natapei
Prime Minister of Vanuatu
In office 16 June 2011 – 26 June 2011 Acting
President	Iolu Abil
Preceded by	Sato Kilman
Succeeded by	Sato Kilman
In office 22 September 2008 – 2 December 2010
President	Kalkot Mataskelekele Maxime Carlot Korman (Acting) Iolu Abil
Preceded by	Ham Lini
Succeeded by	Sato Kilman
In office 13 April 2001 – 29 July 2004
President	John Bani Roger Abiut (Acting) Alfred Maseng Roger Abiut (Acting)
Preceded by	Barak Sopé
Succeeded by	Serge Vohor
Acting President of Vanuatu
In office 2 March 1999 – 24 March 1999
Prime Minister	Donald Kalpokas
Preceded by	Jean Marie Leye Lenelgau
Succeeded by	John Bani
Personal details
Born	17 July 1954 Futuna Island, Tafea Province, New Hebrides (now Vanuatu)
Died	28 July 2015(2015-07-28) (aged 61) Port Vila, Vanuatu
Political party	Vanua'aku Pati
Spouse	Leipaki Natapei

Edward Nipake Natapei Tuta Fanua`araki (born July 17, 1954, died July 28, 2015) was an important politician from Vanuatu. He served as the Prime Minister of Vanuatu two times. He was also the country's acting President of Vanuatu for a short time in 1999. Before that, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the deputy prime minister. He led the Vanua'aku Pati, a political party that aimed to help all people in Vanuatu.

Edward Natapei's Political Journey

Edward Natapei first became a member of Parliament in 1983. In 1996, he was chosen to be the Speaker of Parliament. This meant he was in charge of running the meetings. In 1999, he became the leader of his political party, the Vanua'aku Pati.

In 1999, he tried to become Prime Minister but lost to Barak Sopé. Later, when Sopé was removed from office, Natapei became Prime Minister on April 13, 2001. He kept this job after the election in May 2002. Even though his party did not do well in the July 2004 election, he was still re-elected as a Member of Parliament for the Port Vila area.

Natapei supported Ham Lini to become Prime Minister. When Lini was elected, Natapei became the Minister for Infrastructure and Public Utilities in July 2005. He was re-elected as the president of his party in August 2005. In July 2007, he became the Minister of Public Utilities again and also the Deputy Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Again (2008–2011)

Natapei was elected Prime Minister for a second time on September 22, 2008. This happened after three weeks of talks following the country's general election. He received 27 out of 52 votes in Parliament. He beat Maxime Carlot Korman, another former Prime Minister. Natapei took over from Ham Lini and formed a new government with several parties.

Natapei promised to continue the good work of the previous government. He said his main goals would be to make government actions clear, ensure good leadership, and fight against corruption.

Just two days after Natapei became Prime Minister, the opposition tried to remove him with a vote of no confidence. The Speaker of Parliament, George Wells, stopped this attempt. A vote was held on October 3, 2008, but Natapei's government won with 31 votes against 20. This helped to make the political situation more stable. However, another vote of no confidence was tried on November 25, 2008. Natapei survived this vote by a small margin.

In November 2009, Natapei changed many of his cabinet members. He removed half of them and ended ties with two political parties. This happened because he found out they were planning another vote of no confidence against his government.

Natapei replaced the removed cabinet members with new ones from the opposition. Ham Lini, who was Natapei's predecessor, was replaced as Deputy Prime Minister by Sato Kilman. The new government now had the support of 33 out of 52 members of Parliament.

On November 27, 2009, Natapei's parliamentary seat was declared empty because he missed three meetings without telling the Speaker. Even though he was away for official business, his staff did not file the correct papers. Serge Vohor became the acting Prime Minister. However, on December 5, a judge ruled that the Speaker's decision was against the law. On December 10, Parliament confirmed their trust in Natapei, and he remained Prime Minister.

On December 2, 2010, Natapei was removed from office by a vote of no confidence. Sato Kilman became the new Prime Minister.

On June 16, 2011, a judge ruled that Kilman's election was not legal. The judge said that the Speaker had not followed the rules for electing a Prime Minister. Because of this, Kilman's time as Prime Minister was cancelled. Natapei was made the interim Prime Minister and was told to call Parliament to elect a new leader. Natapei said he would not try to become Prime Minister again and would support Serge Vohor.

During his short time as interim Prime Minister, Natapei cancelled Vanuatu's recognition of Abkhazia. This recognition had been given by Kilman the month before.

On June 26, Parliament elected Sato Kilman as Prime Minister again. This ended Natapei's interim duties.

Natapei's First Cabinet (2008)

Natapei announced the members of his government's cabinet on September 22, 2008. His cabinet included members from his own party, the Vanua'aku Pati (VP), and the National United Party (VNUP). His predecessor, Ham Lini, became the new Minister for Public Utilities and Works.

Natapei's first cabinet included:

• Bakoa Kaltongga as the Minister of Justice and Social Welfare (VP)
• Sela Molisa as Finance Minister (VP)
• Paul Telukluk as Lands Minister (Namangi Aute)
• Charlot Salwai as Minister of Education (Union of Moderate Parties)
• Serge Vohor as Minister for Infrastructure & Public Utilities (UMP)
• Sato Kilman as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Commerce and Industries (People's Progressive Party)
• Moana Carcasses Kalosil as the Minister for Internal Affairs (Greens)
• Moses Kahu as Minister of Health (VP)
• Stephen Kalsakau as Minister of Agriculture
• Joe Natuman as Minister of Foreign Affairs (VP)
• Raphael Worwor as Minister of Youth, Development and Training (UMP)

A few days before a vote of no confidence, Prime Minister Natapei brought the Union Of Moderate Parties (UMP) into the government. He changed his cabinet for the first time:

• Bakoa Kaltongga as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (VP)
• Sela Molisa as Finance Minister (VP)
• Joe Natuman as Minister of Health (VP)
• Ham Lini as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Justice and Social Welfare (VNUP)
• James Bule as Minister for Trade, Commerce & Industries (VNUP)
• Patrick Crowby as the Minister for Internal Affairs (VNUP)
• Havo Moli as Minister of Agriculture
• Don Ken as Minister of Youth, Development and Training
• Serge Vohor as Minister of Infrastructure and Public Utilities (UMP)
• Raphael Worwor as Minister of Lands (UMP)
• Charlot Salwai as Minister of Education (UMP)
• Esmon Saimon as Minister of Ni Vanuatu Business (Independent)

Later Political Work

Natapei was the Leader of the Opposition while Sato Kilman was Prime Minister (from 2011 to 2013). On March 21, 2013, Kilman resigned. This happened after eight of his Members of Parliament joined the Opposition. Natapei supported Moana Carcasses Kalosil to become the new Prime Minister. Carcasses then appointed Natapei as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs on March 23.

As Minister for Foreign Affairs, Natapei worked to stop the improper sale of diplomatic passports by earlier governments. He cancelled the passports of about ten diplomats who were believed to have bought them. He also said that more than two-thirds of the country's diplomats might lose their jobs because their appointments did not follow the correct rules. This effort was praised by Transparency International.

Natapei lost his position when the Carcasses government was removed by a motion of no confidence on May 15, 2014.

Edward Natapei passed away on July 28, 2015, at the age of 61, after a long illness.

Images for kids

• 

  Edward Natapei in 2009.

See also

In Spanish: Edward Natapei para niños