The Friend Melanesian Party (FMP) is a political party in

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 ...

. The party is usually seen as close to the

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 Is ...

History

The FMP was formed in 1975 by French-speaking Protestant Pisovuke Albert Ravutia as a reaction to the success of the New Hebrides National Party.The political parties and groupings of Vanuatu
ALP International ProjectsHoward Van Trease (1995) ''Melanesian Politics: Stael Blong Vanuatu'', p225 In 1981 it joined the francophone

alliance, but due to the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

dominance of the alliance in contrast to the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

majority in the FMP, it opted to remain an individual party and fielded candidates against the UMP. In the 1983 general elections the party received 2.3% of the vote, winning a single seat in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, aligning itself with the UMP. It retained its seat in the

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

and 1995 elections, but did not contest the 1998 elections. The party returned to Parliament after winning one seat in the 2002 elections, but lost it in the 2004 elections. It also remained seatless after the 2008 elections. In the

2012 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2012. International * 2012 United Nations Security Council election Africa Egypt * 2012 Egyptian presidential election Mali * 2012 Malian presidential election * 2012 Malian parliamentary electio ...

the party nominated three candidates. It received 0.9% of the vote, failing to win a seat. In the

2016 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2016. Africa Benin Republic * 2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 1 ...

the party fielded two candidates, winning one seat; Edwin Amblus in Santo.Unofficial results
Vanuatu Daily Post, 25 January 2016 However the party lost its parliamentary representation following the 2020 election and failed to get it back in the 2022 one.

Election results

Parliament

References

{{Vanuatuan political parties Political parties in Vanuatu 1975 establishments in the New Hebrides Political parties established in 1975