Sela Molisa (15 December 1950 – 21 August 2022) was a Vanuatuan politician, who was a member of the

Parliament of Vanuatu The Parliament of Vanuatu ( bi, Palamen blong Vanuatu; french: Parlement du Vanuatu) is the unicameral legislative body of the Republic of Vanuatu. It was established by chapter 4 of the 1980 Constitution, upon Vanuatu's independence from Franc ...

from 1982 to 2012,"Vanuatu MP to monitor charter"
''Fiji Times'', 12 June 2008 and occupied several cabinet posts in the government during his career, including four mandates as the

minister of finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

Education

Molisa attended a British colonial secondary school in what was then the

New Hebrides New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium (french: link=no, Condominium des Nouvelles-Hébrides, "Condominium of the New Hebrides") and named after the Hebrides Scottish archipelago, was the colonial name for the island group ...

from 1966 to 1970, before studying at the

University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public university, public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and ...

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

, Dominion of Fiji from 1971 to 1973. He then studied at the

Fiji School of Medicine The Fiji School of Medicine is a tertiary institution based in Suva, Fiji. Originally established in 1885 as the ''Suva Medical School''. FSM became the College of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences as part of Fiji National University in 2010. ...

in 1974.Biography of Sela Molisa
on the website of the Parliament of Vanuatu

Career

Molisa was a Member of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

from 1982 to 2012, representing two constituencies in his home island of

Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region o ...

. He served as Minister of Home Affairs in 1983; as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1983 to 1987; as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

from 1987 to 1991; as Minister of Trade, Commerce and Industry in 1996; as

again from 1998 to 1999; as Minister of Lands and Natural Resources from 2001 to 2002; and as

thrice more from 2002 to 2004 and from 2008 to 2010 and from 2011 to 2012. Each time he held the position of Minister of Finance, he was also Governor of the

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Grou ...

, the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

and the

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field office ...

. In the late 1980s, as Foreign Minister, he oversaw a commercial fishing agreement with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. As Minister of Finance, he oversaw the removing of Vanuatu from the OECD List of Uncooperative Tax Havens. He also sought to encourage the use of

coconut oil frameless , right , alt = A cracked coconut and a bottle of coconut oil Coconut oil (or coconut butter) is an edible oil derived from the wick, meat, and milk of the coconut palm fruit. Coconut oil is a white solid fat; in warmer climates duri ...

, derived from Vanuatu-produced

copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...

, to fuel automobiles so as to reduce the country's dependence on imported oil. In March 2006, Molisa accused

Ham Lini Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term "ham ...

's government of indecisiveness on a number of issues, and attempted to replace him as prime minister though a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

in Parliament. Molisa was supported by the

Green Confederation The Green Confederation ( bi, Vanuatu Grin Konfederesen, french: Confédération des Verts Vanuatu; sometimes seen as the Greens Confederation or Vanuatu Green Confederation) is a green political party in Vanuatu. At the legislative election of ...

, the

Melanesian Progressive Party The Melanesian Progressive Party is a political party in Vanuatu formed after an internal leadership struggle within the Vanua'aku Pati in the late 1980s. MPP founder, former Prime Minister Barak Sopé Barak Tame Sopé Mautamata (born 1951) ...

and 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 Ish ...

, but the motion failed. In June 2008, Molisa became chairman of the independent monitoring group tasked with overseeing the preparation of the Republic of the Fiji Islands'

People's Charter for Change, Peace and Progress The People's Charter for Change, Peace and Progress (initially, People's Charter for Change and Progress) was a proposed legal document which would have complemented the 1997 Constitution of Fiji. It would have established compulsory guidelines f ...

. In September 2008, he was appointed Finance Minister once more, but lost his post on 2 December 2010 when the Natapei government was ousted in a motion of no confidence, and he sat on the opposition benches for the next four months. On 24 April 2011, new Prime Minister

Sato Kilman Meltek Sato Kilman Livtuvanu (born 30 December 1957) is a Vanuatuan politician. He was Prime Minister of Vanuatu on four occasions, most recently from June 2015 to February 2016. Kilman was previously Prime Minister from December 2010 to April 20 ...

was himself ousted in a motion of no confidence, and succeeded by

Serge Vohor Rialuth Serge Vohor (born 23 April 1955) is a Vanuatuan politician. He hails from the largest island of Vanuatu, Espiritu Santo, from Port Olry. He was a member of the Union of Moderate Parties, a centrist political party, until 2022. When his ...

. Vohor appointed Molisa as his Minister of Trade; three weeks later, however, Vohor's election and premiership were voided by the Court of Appeal, and Molisa lost his position in government. On 16 June, Kilman's election and premiership were themselves voided by the Supreme Court, on constitutional grounds, and previous Prime Minister

Edward Natapei Edward Nipake Natapei Tuta Fanua`araki (17 July 1954 – 28 July 2015) was a Vanuatuan politician. He was the prime minister of Vanuatu on two occasions, and was previously the minister of Foreign Affairs briefly in 1991, the acting president of ...

became caretaker Prime Minister until a new leader could be elected. Molisa was restored as caretaker Minister of Trade. He later served as Ambassador of Vanuatu to the

People’s Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

from 2014 to 2015. Sela Molisa was married to

Grace Mera Molisa Grace Mera Molisa (17 February 1946, Aoba Island – 4 January 2002, Port Vila) was a Ni-Vanuatu politician, poet and campaigner for women's equality in politics. ''The Australian'' described her as "a vanguard for Melanesian culture and a voice ...

, an influential politician and poet who died in 2002. They were married in 1976, and both took part in preparing the

Constitution of Vanuatu The Constitution of Vanuatu is the supreme law of the Republic of Vanuatu. It was enacted in 1979, and came into force upon the country's independence on 30 July 1980. The Constitution asserts Vanuatu to be a "sovereign democratic state", with ...

."Voice of Vanuatu's women"
University of the South Pacific

References

External links

on the website of the Parliament of Vanuatu
"Vanuatu’s new finance minister aims for stability"
Radio New Zealand International, 23 September 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Molisa, Sela 1950 births 2022 deaths University of the South Pacific alumni Finance Ministers of Vanuatu Members of the Parliament of Vanuatu Government ministers of Vanuatu Ambassadors of Vanuatu to China Vanua'aku Pati politicians People from Sanma Province

Education

Career

Further reading

References

External links