Willie Jimmy Tapangararua, often just referred to as Willie Jimmy (born 4 March 1960),Hon. Tapangararua J. Willie
/ref> is 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 with the National United Party.

Career

Jimmy has served as Vanuatu's Minister of Finance and / or Trade on several occasions. He was

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", " ...

1991-1992, 1993-1996, 1997, 2005-2008, 2013 and 2015-2016. In 2003, he was nominated to be the country's Deputy Prime Minister, but at the last minute was switched to the Minister of Trade position, so that the NUP president could be nominated in his place, as part of a coalition-building strategy. He would go on to play a role in relations with China as his country's first ambassador to China, appointed in 2009. On 23 March 2013, new Prime Minister

Moana Carcasses Kalosil Moana Carcasses Kalosil (born 27 January 1963) is a Vanuatuan politician. He was Prime Minister of Vanuatu from March 2013 to May 2014. He was the first naturalized citizen of Vanuatu to become the country's prime minister. Carcasses was ousted ...

appointed him

. On 10 May, Carcasses sacked him, "amid reports the veteran politician was in talks with the opposition about a possible defection", which Jimmy denied.

Maki Simelum Maki Stanley Simelum, born 3 March 1972,
on the parliamentary websi ...

, who had been Minister for Justice, replaced him, while Silas Yatan (Greens, MP for Tanna) was given the Justice portfolio. Jimmy joined the Opposition. On 26 February 2014, facing defections to the Opposition, Carcasses offered Cabinet positions to Opposition MPs, so as to shore up his parliamentary majority. Jimmy was one of those who defected to Carcasses' government for a Cabinet job; he was appointed Minister for Trade - replacing Daniel Toara, was dismissed to make room for him. Jimmy lost office when the Carcasses government was brought down by 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 ...

on 15 May 2014. On 11 June 2015, three government MPs crossed the floor, enabling the Opposition to oust Joe Natuman's government through a motion of no confidence. Sato Kilman formed the new government, and re-appointed Jimmy to the position of

. On 2 September, Jimmy pleaded guilty in court to charges of corruption for having taken bribes. Jimmy admitted to receiving 1,000,000 vatu from Moana Carcasses in return for support in the motion of no-confidence that brought the Kilman government to power. The 15 other MPs accused of bribery pleaded not guilty, but all but one of them were subsequently convicted.

Other

Jean Paul Virelala of the Ministry of Education filed a defamation suit against Jimmy, CEO Terry Kerr of

Air Vanuatu Air Vanuatu is an airline with its head office in the Air Vanuatu House, Port Vila, Vanuatu. It is Vanuatu's national flag carrier, operating to Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and points in the South Pacific. Its main base is Bauerfiel ...

, and the ''

Vanuatu Daily Post The ''Vanuatu Daily Post'' is a newspaper published in Port Vila in Vanuatu. It is the only daily newspaper in Vanuatu. The newspaper's founder, Marc Neil-Jones, had been the victim of physical attacks supported by government ministers during ...

'' over 2007 comments by the former two published in the latter organ; the newspaper quoted Jimmy as saying in relation to Virelala's consultancy work for the airline that "I am concerned that Mr. Virelala will be wanting to get back at the current management for his dismissal and it will create problems." However, the suit was thrown out in October 2010. In November 2014, he stated publicly that like many indigenous

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Va ...

ns he believes in

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

, and that the practice of witchcraft should be punished with the death penalty."Vanuatu MP wants death penalty for witchcraft"
Radio Australia, 21 November 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jimmy, Willie National United Party (Vanuatu) politicians 1960 births Government ministers of Vanuatu Ambassadors of Vanuatu to China Living people Finance Ministers of Vanuatu Members of the Parliament of Vanuatu