Not ready for female President: Malvatumauri

Vanuatu is not ready to elect a female candidate to become the Head of State of the Republic.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Malvatumauri National Council of Chiefs, Jean Pierre Tom gives an exclusive interview to that effect on behalf of the Chairman of the National Council of Chiefs, Chief Seni Mao Tirsupe, saying with due respect to women, there are two systems in Vanuatu running in parallel; the western system and Vanuatu custom.

In Vanuatu custom, leadership belongs to the 'nasara' and operates in its own language in each 'nasara' throughout the country.

It is the same spirit of leadership that each island is bound by beginning in the North and runs through the archipelago to the South.

This view by the chiefs came after a member of the coalition government, U-Bloc, agreed in its committee meeting for the bloc to support any female candidate that applies for the post of President of Vanuatu.

U-Bloc says its three MPs will support any female candidate for this high post.

It stated that the Labour Unions around the world have always supported the gender equality for women in political arena and even for the posts of Head of State or Presidents around the world.

U-Bloc representative, MP Ephraim Kalsakau, said the Union’s aim is to empower the women to advance and utilize their ability equal to men for top posts around the world

But the Malvatumauri CEO says if an island follows a female leadership system, it could be due to unforeseen circumstances in ancient times which allowed a female leader to take over the 'nasara'.

“Throughout the centuries since creation, the captain of the ship beginning with Abraham has always been a man. Moses is a man, Joshua is a man and Jesus is a man," the CEO stresses.

A woman is valuable and it is Vanuatu’s duty to value her worth as a special treasure.

“Now 36 years after Independence, every prime minister is a man and every president of every Island Council of Chiefs is a man.

"How the leadership command flows throughout the command chain with consistency and if a woman is elected to become the next Head of State, it won’t connect with the chiefly structure because she does not belong there. This is the honest opinion of the chiefs," he says.

Without challenging western knowledge which promotes individual right, the CEO says right and duty are two different things.

“If we are not careful in how we use the two different words, we are going to create more confusion instead of giving direction.

"The duty of a woman is not the same as her right and today mixing them in the same saucepan has contributed to the confusion that is boiling regarding her duty and her right," he says.

Finally the CEO says when a woman leaves one nasara to build her generation in another nasara, her people will continue to say thank you to her for her contribution and this is the duty that the chiefs recognise her for.

Meanwhile, while the country is finalsing the legal pathway to elect the new Head of State on Monday next week following the sudden passing of President Baldwin Lonsdale on June 17, Chief Seni Mao Tirsupe cautions political leaders against delaying the election of the most suitable candidate due to political differences saying such an approach is not in line with Vanuatu custom.

Chief Seni Mao Tirsupe asks all political leaders in the Electoral College to put aside their differences and cast their votes in the best interest of the country, to elect the most suitable candidate as a symbol of peace and unity.

To the candidates he says the qualities of the successful candidate must comprise the three social pillars of leadership namely custom, church and western doctrine. "Vanuatu is founded on Melanesian Values and Faith in God and the leadership of the State Office must be seen to be driven by those fundamental 'tingring' as expressed in the Constitution, to take the nation forward", Chief Tirsupe advises.

He calls on the leaders of all Christian denominations and people of Vanuatu to pray for Divine intervention to guide the Electoral College, to elect the candidate that is chosen by God to pick up the reigns where the late President left them to lead the nation forward.