'fHL EIC;I)'\[S OF :iT - ;:IWU::; POLITIC/\L PARTIES IN POL SIA finn MELANESIA Ir'Cl \:!c 1 f Februaf'Y, 198J }'urlc~:t I, " II 10 ?anF~u Pati 10 IncJcpcn Ill: ;.IC)l!; I' "I ul' 111 Un'Ltecl Par }--i 0F'le f s rl}-\O,f~rll:;;-_~~: r),-ll-)-!~-V 17 o ;; " !i (J :1.:1 1 i' ,1 J' L ~/ J7 ot ~-'l (:: 2' Pc 1 i ·t i C (1 J 1- r't _i ::; J 2, 2L " , v 1"1 Ud,ELJ"cl,1 n 1':)\!i 'J,/ '- l.. CJJlI/ tJC:,:I{ L~ r-L\l\f}-I 2S l.J a g'c i. (J}~ll::~ _'" 26 () -C 1-"1 cr' ]) () 1. 'j \/ C" r) 7 .~. I 28 IV. C (J I:~ LJ" r 3 CI ::: 0 FClrlv. () iti 11 T)(-:J:lO crc1 t i. C P" LX-' '\.' 33 :~~ UlTHild rji :) 3 ) V. FPJ:N CH PO LYlrE ;:; I/\ !\utonomis t ,; VI. FIcH 38 ALliance Pa 38 National Federation P rty 41 42 Fijian NationaList Party VII. NEW CALEDONIA If '7 VIII. CONCLUSION 52 r()llC\~Jir~f~ pclge P(11)ua;',1c'v] c;tline(3.--Sorr~c 1< .) Foliticcl1 DcvE~lopments, 19 4-197 10 21 38 .) .: )' 1. .J \J c~ \/ 1 n p Tn ( '. r; t r i I J:1 i [' Ii C t I ,; !i Lit i cal part J. e c; i I J F 0 1 yn c s i a ,1 n c! 1~el;II1csia J_D a sarich for comm011 features in the origins of these o rmuJation of political parties allows for tho broadest se pc in studvin~ political party activity in the South Pacific. itJl ["'o2.itic :: ()rr~clnization,:; which regc!rcJ themselves 2:1:3 parties and which arc general so regarded. (Hodgkin 1961:15-16) available th South Pacific nations as independence drew near, p () 1 i it C (J 1 r ,! l' Li f' ,H' n t i 1\ f (.'1,'/ C oun trio;; of the region . The oldest In 19onous political parties still functioning in the South Pacific are those in French Polynesia, although the names of the parties nd the key personalities have changed over the years. (French Polynesia also has parties that are extensions of Metropolitan They will not be discussed here.) The party system opcr2tin~ in Fiji since the early 1960 ' s is unusual in the Pacific by vir'tuc of its communal nature. In Papua New Guinea, multiple parties were active by 1971, principally as Parliamentary groupings and soon thereafter in active pursuit of electoral support. Parties in Vanuatu, with one prominent exception, began to develop in the early ]970's. The first party in the Cook Islands began to function in 19GU and had no effective, organized opposition for almost C1. de.cade. Alt110ugh ?1elaI1es n artics are active In New Caledonia, their impact seems to have cen minimal, at least until recently. Political parties in Solomon Islands seemed to have evaporated with independence' 2 It .lS too 0:arl'! t() nc'\·v gC)\fcl'lrlITlCIlt, the' ,--, ("'}' ,.! ('j o J-t r'/) (\T: -.' j j ( our\tric~; .1Tl tl t~ 1-1 Pa.. c i .C i c: l,'" ifiei~!.nt actoY'~; ln thc political system-- Papua He'vJ Frenell Pc enCI'J Caledonia, h'itIl f'lelanccc;ians the Til rit~v 11'1, 1: i.Ci111.,/, and cccnomicdl1y, rcrprec3cnt:3 a \1111.qUC· political ~3Y ten! :i.n;:he l·Cf,J.on. J'."_ l. l..JC' party system will be cll.~;CU:;:;cd L1'1"C1/, b\lt it {lu c; nut: Cit dny of the generalizations made here foY' S lj-tll PacifJ_ l<lJ'ty systerns.) In all five countries, political parties emerged during the colonial period. The ·t~olc l:he~3C political partie::; played provides a common framework with which 10 examine individuaJ country experiences. F'unction of PoJ.i.tical. Parties One function of political parties ln the reglon was mobilization of support. This support ~lCI.S so t nationally, regionally, or from a spr;cific ~jCCt()lF sue]) ;-]s tJlc educated elite, -the :~0mbers of 1:J-10 !lational J_cgislature, or other institutionalized groups. This political mobilization had several, often overlapping, purposes: 3 -- -·i- In 11 rt: :~ (\ '!~1'; I-~ -!_ a l..,t~/ p:rlOL~11dJn~-3 c01Jl d be accept ~cl dIl '\/ .t--h(~ ·-"VC"CIlj,l"'J.r: col n_iCl~! in~~;titllt·ion -1·· _0- l ])C c~ n u ~ t'.: L: (' j u :-; t: i fie c~ r: ;.] 1 j": tl flc:.t tIle: r-'dl~)ty l:ecoTTles a Tr:ear:~~ te\ ,.--1 , ~ 1 ,. ;j l~:~:; L r1ation,~11i[3r:l r3-n(j a rLcltiorlcil C()I1SCJ_C)U~;r1(~SS --st UJ..;lt 'r~l~ (lC"'i(~:J.nT)rn no!: of p()litic,_~~J pl'cgl'c.llnS clnc1 trLc~ Jj('") ~~- :"i. -j ...j. ':1 J. l' :-,( •. ,; (1:'(] te· initiate politicaJ char:ge --(~c:lrr~.rnt:_r~i I~l_tc ~:/i·t:Y: tJ':c; p 1.11d.CC: __ ..lc:~) cf',(J.J.Il :',,1 ,~):.:,.~. r J') '~:11r~ i,:l}'-\ :',' tCJ C1-~(~111cn'g,c the eXl.stl.ns iIi d i. z'~~ C. T\ ',-> 1,,1 :~; :1. c ,~_ :~") J~\ ,~:~ :-} :l. f\ secon litica] parties In the South Pacific 'l'h i? founders or most outh Pacific political parties were educated within European politic01 systems. Ttlis SITlilJ.l, Wes"tern-educated eli-te adopted the political models they had observed and studied. Thus, the political parties provided the Europeans with a local political systc~:n they c()ulcl undel-,~;tanc]--.its po~;sibl(~ irrelevance to the indi- genous S ys tern not;;J i th ~3 teeln d iJl G' ) The traditional operating style of polfrics ln the South Pacific However, four of the five countries Cooks) ;, ve \'1hich a r~la~J ri.t party or coalition of parties rules, a formal, r'ec()gni:~ d sition challenges the former', and the majority ln the legislature selects the government leader who also serves as chief eXCcllti\lC~. concept of consensur; _Ln c}c:cision-m.::lking has p;J-ven \"TeJ.Y to majority rule. However, in actuaJ practice, consensus 1S still the guiding principle, at least within the governing party or coalition, with great effort often exerted to brins together vastly divergent viewpoints. It lS betwee11 the diffe1~en't nar,·ties that "the Westminster~ voti.I1g system ac1:ually seems -to i1pp ., pint ,. cler;cY"'i'j).in~~ tIle fc\r'rnatioI1 of" irldi.- genou,::, J.PS in Melanesi~ and Polyn Sla. " . i Th that the initiEi 1 :Lnc J. genou s - D.:lC:; e l lel Tn cae}) C()u.[1.tr)~1 c.1eve1uped ill t11C: c on i aIdd min i ,;[cat i () n . In ~,~()rnc ,~, .1 '1 -t 11 eeln 1"1 .:i_ a 1 }i _"." I to :.-:; U T t r..' .. u, F',J.pu<] Nev.' French Po cd of Ch:ll1 e W2S acccp-tatl.e or n \vitII the dil'ection the colonial il ;Il:' n i :-:: :"\', I J ! : i i ( -' .. ~ ) "f J<J J., \-' T:>::,: r: (j:: )• /\s coun-t(~1'""\-r'('.c]cti()n , second party then formed that was influenced by expatriates, opposed to th e incJi gon u party, and primarily concerned with pl'otecting the :';tatus quo. 1'Lis :c, CO]1cJ party, therefore, supported the colonial ac1rninistr'ation. This counter-reaction occurred in Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and nch Polynesia. It fails in the Cook Islands, F probably because O. -"- the lack of a sizeable and influential expatriate community. Here the OppOSl 100 to the initial party was also indigenous. Fiji, with its Indian/Fijian split, lS SUl generus. 1 c~ _l:;'-~ r (: det i c)n -- (11' i en t (1 jT , Following this! additio'lal indigenous-based parties developed-- perhaps in opposition to the initial indigenous party, perhaps in o:ppo~) j~tion fc)rrnt,~d fo}~ independent 5 c: cc,n o . , I} r',] n ,0;.i e . 1 t :; t,vh()~;c lC;tc1C1 s11ip 1n] t be ch n 'In and oLe v n t ion 11 ) (\t!hich I -tl[z1t style: of auth()ri'~y in Tn "tt-l succe din r action-oriented, expatriate- influenced party, thls characteristic of strong individual leadership often was not present. n the second set of indigenous-based parties to faturn:i? 11 t d I~ a i nbc presen t, a 1ttl CJ U g 11 not a ~:; frequently as in the initial set of indigenous parties. The de'Ie lUI'jd'ccl,t of poIitical parties in Papua New Guinea seems to fit this description almost perfectly. The Pangu Pati developed as a dil'ect l~eaction to tIle !\u~;tr'alian admird3tration, ,;cf::king self- government and, u]i: ately, independence, from a colonial power that considered such a development desirable in theory, but only after an extensive (p rhaps thirty years or more) period of preparation. Its the Independent Members' ·ss a p tha~ an assemblage, led by expatriates and dedi- cated to 0PP slng the P u l'ati Cit every opportunity. One party that developed fl:Ynn tile ,1 ::,n n(~ent j'1cmbers I Group ",(:t,3 the Unit:ccl Party, expatriate--lecl \\lith ,:~ policy b2.sed on a deep antipathy to The United Party favored the maintenance of an unchanged colonial svstem and believed that the Pangu Pati was made tIp O.f dal1gc~rolls r)~.dicaJ_s. G .f t: ] 1 I:-lclc cnc:J Tl.t l'ileJT:lJf:l")2") , C;r~()11p, con.si::-:;ted maiI11 y7 of lot rlCl(l SC)Jne expatlr~L(]tc SUI)port.