Imprisoned veteran politician Serge Vohor has been re-elected President of the Union of Moderate Parties (UMP), at a second party congress at Lycee Lab in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
The election came about less than 48 hours after the first UMP congress elected Jacque Nauka Meriango president of the party.
Vohor, who hails from Port Olry in East Santo, was first elected into parliament in 1983 and never lost an election until last year when he was convicted and jailed. He was president of UMP for 29 years.
Prior to the election of the two separate executives in Port Vila this week, there were two separate acting presidents. Eli Bong of the Ambrym Regional Committee, was appointed by Vohor, while Meriango from the Port Vila UMP Regional Executive, had resumed the position of acting president in the absence of the president who was jailed for bribery and corruption charges along with 13 others at the end of last year.
According to the party constitution (Chapter 31 (23), it is the vice president, who assumes the role of acting president in the absence of the president.
However, the election of the UMP national executive headed by Meriango was disputed by the Vohor faction who claimed many of their mandated members were not informed of the mid-night meeting that elected Meriango’s executive at 1am in the morning.
In response to the first election, the acting president of the second UMP faction, Eli Bong convened another and second congress on Friday and a second UMP national executive was elected, without the presence of the mandates who voted for the first UMP national executive. Imprisoned Serge Vohor was re-elected as party president. The leader of opposition, Ishmael Kalsakau was elected his vice president.
Questions were raised over the legitimacy of certain mandates who cast their votes on Thursday, in the absence of a lot of mandates from the northern islands. Similar claims were also levelled against the second group, over the rightful mandates who voted at the Friday congress.
The differences in UMP was evident earlier this year when one faction of the party, comprising most of the UMP members of parliament decided to join the government leaving the UMP member for Port Vila, Ishmael Kalsakau occupying the leadership role in the opposition.
Even before the snap election, one group had sought a court injunction against the detained party president, from interfering on decisions made by the Port Vila Regional Committee on candidates for the Port Vila constituency.
The challenge is not the first for UMP. The past UMP political history had seen court battles between prominent leaders that resulted in the formation of new political parties such as the Vanuatu Republican Party and the Reunification for Movement for Change. The current circumstances surrounding the Lycee Lab Congresses, leaves everyone with the notion that another court battle is inevitable.