Barak Tame Sopé Mautamata (born 13 August 1950) is a ni-

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

politician. He was the leader of the

Melanesian Progressive Party The Melanesian Progressive Party is a political party in Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, ...

and was, until 2008, a member of the Vanuatu parliament from the island of

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

. He was the

Prime Minister of Vanuatu The prime minister of Vanuatu is the head of government of the Vanuatu, 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 Walt ...

from 1999 until 2001, when he was deposed by Parliament in a no confidence vote. Sopé was Minister of Finance in 1996. He was elected Prime Minister in a parliamentary vote on 25 November 1999, receiving 28 votes against 24 for Edward Natapei. Shortly after he was deposed on 13 April 2001, he was convicted on 2 charges of forging several million US dollars' worth of Vanuatu Government Guarantees and was sentenced in July 2002 to 3 years on each charge (to be served concurrently), but was pardoned in 2003 despite heavy opposition from Australia and New Zealand. When the coalition government of Serge Vohor was sworn in on 29 July 2004, Sopé became

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

. He lost that position in November 2004 after he spoke out against Vanuatu's attempts to establish diplomatic relations with

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, reputedly due to his own dealings with the Chinese. He returned to the cabinet in December 2004 when the government of Ham Lini took office, taking up the post of Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. In the September 2008 general election, Sopé lost his seat in Parliament. In September 2014, Sopé was a candidate in the indirect presidential elections. He was eventually defeated in the eighth round of voting by Baldwin Lonsdale.

References

1955 births Living people Prime ministers of Vanuatu Ministers of finance of Vanuatu Members of the Parliament of Vanuatu People from Shefa Province Recipients of Vanuatuan presidential pardons Melanesian Progressive Party politicians People educated at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School 20th-century Vanuatuan politicians 21st-century Vanuatuan politicians {{Vanuatu-politician-stub