Walter Lini

Who is Walter Lini?

Walter Hadye Lini was a ni-Vanuatu Anglican priest and politician who became the first Prime Minister of independent Vanuatu, serving from the country's independence in 1980 until 1991. Born on Pentecost Island in 1942 and ordained as an Anglican priest, he entered politics in the 1970s as part of a rising generation of Melanesian leaders pressing for self-government under the Anglo-French Condominium of the New Hebrides. In 1977 he became president of the Vanua'aku Pati, the pro-independence political party that united many island communities around demands for land rights and self-rule, campaigning under a platform blending Melanesian socialism with a strong emphasis on kastom identity. Lini led Vanuatu to independence on 30 July 1980, in the same period that a short-lived secessionist uprising on Espiritu Santo, later known as the Coconut War, was suppressed by the incoming government. As Prime Minister he pursued a non-aligned foreign policy, supported nuclear-free Pacific advocacy, and worked to return customary land to ni-Vanuatu ownership. He remained a dominant figure in national politics until ill health forced his resignation in 1991, and he died in 1999.

Sources: John Beasant, "The Santo Rebellion: An Imperial Reckoning" (Heinemann, 1984) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Walter Lini" biographical entry