Donald Masike'Vanua Kalpokas (23 August 1943 – 20 March 2019) was a

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

an politician and diplomat who twice served as

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 b ...

Biography

Kalpokas was born on

Efate Efate (french: Éfaté) is an island in the Pacific Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in Vanuatu. It is also known as Île Vate. Geography It is the most populous (approx. 66,000) island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of makes it Vanua ...

island. Along with

Walter Lini Walter Hadye Lin̄i (1942 – 21 February 1999) was a Raga Anglican priest and politician who was the first Prime Minister of Vanuatu, from independence in 1980 to 1991. He was born at Agatoa village, Pentecost Island. On his mother's side ...

, he founded 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 Party ...

. This political party promoted

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 e ...

policies as well as supporting and promoting political independence for Vanuatu. In 1983, Kalpokas became

foreign minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

of Vanuatu but forfeited his position after a few months. He became foreign minister again in 1987 and remained in this post for a full four-year tenure. On 6 September 1991, Kalpokas and other members of the Vanua'aku Pati defected from Lini's government and supported a no-confidence vote against him. Kalpokas then became an interim Prime Minister until the next parliamentary elections. The elections resulted in the opposition

Union of Moderate Parties The Union of Moderate Parties (french: Union des partis moderés) is a liberal political party in Vanuatu founded in 1981. 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 Ish ...

taking control of the government, and Kalpokas left office on 16 December 1991. In March 1998, following parliamentary elections, which resulted in gains for the Vanua'aku Pati and Lini's National United Party, Kalpokas and Lini formed a coalition government. Kalpokas took office as prime minister again on 30 March 1998. He also became a foreign minister for the third time but soon gave up his post. The government collapsed in November 1999 when Kalpokas resigned as prime minister to prevent a no-confidence vote. In 2001, after nearly a decade as leader of the Vanua'aku Pati, Kalpokas gave up the party leadership. He served as Speaker of the Parliament from May 2001 to May 2002. In August 2004, he was a candidate to become

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of Vanuatu, and received 26 votes in the first round but then withdrew as it became clear that he would not be able to gain enough support. In November 2007, he was appointed Vanuatu's

Permanent Representative to the United Nations A permanent representative to the United Nations (sometimes called a "UN ambassador")"History of Ambassadors", United States Mission to the United Nations, March 2011, webpagUSUN-a. is the head of a country's diplomatic mission to the United Nati ...

.United Nations website
Kalpokas died on 20 March 2019, at the age of 75.

References

International Who's Who. accessed 4 September 2006.

Rulers.org. accessed 4 September 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalpokas, Donald 1943 births 2019 deaths Prime Ministers of Vanuatu Speakers of the Parliament of Vanuatu Foreign Ministers of Vanuatu Members of the Parliament of Vanuatu People from Shefa Province Vanuatuan socialists Permanent Representatives of Vanuatu to the United Nations Vanua'aku Pati politicians