Cold FRIDAY

Today is Father Walter Lini Day, a public holiday in Vanuatu on February 21st each year. This holiday commemorates an important figure in the history of this South Pacific nation on the anniversary of his death in 1999.

Father Lini was born on Pentecost, one of the larger of what were then the New Hebrides, a Y-shaped cluster of islands administered jointly by Britain and France. He had studied for the ministry in New Zealand and was serving as a priest and as leader of the New Hebrides National party when the colonial rulers announced plans to withdraw by 1980.

Because his party dominated the colonial parliament, Father Lini was poised to become Prime Minister. But a month before independence, a French-speaking planter named Jimmy Stevens led 600 bowmen to take control of the island of Espiritu Santo. Supported by some local French-speakers, Mr. Stevens wanted to withdraw the island from the about-to-be-proclaimed nation of Vanuatu, which means ”our eternal land.”

Father Lini sought aid from Britain, which, over the objections of France, reluctantly sent 200 Royal Marines, who served as a peacekeepers on Espiritu Santo long enough for the independence ceremonies to proceed on schedule. Once the new flag went up, Father Lini signed a defense pact with Papua New Guinea, which sent forces to replace the British Marines, quickly arrested Mr. Stevens and put down the rebellion.

The country Father Lini took over was poor in almost everything but fish. It had only 30 college graduates. Still, Vanuatu found itself vulnerable to geopolitical pressures. It sought to trade fishing rights to both China and Taiwan. Father Lini’s Government angered France by its support for independence groups in New Caledonia and its opposition to nuclear testing in the Pacific. It irritated the United States by calling for a reduction in United States naval traffic, recognizing Libya, and welcoming Vietnam and Cuba to establish embassies while holding off the United States.

Lini also pushed for what he called “Melanesian socialism” – a system based on the traditional Polynesian idea that a people’s land is owned in common.