Vanuatu’s new president Tallis Obed Moses says there is only one religion in the republic and it is Christianity.
He said the country’s motto of ‘Long God Yumi Stanap’ simply meant that Vanuatu is a Christian nation.
RNZ correspondent said Moses’s stance it falls into line with the Vanuatu Christian Council’s position that the freedom of worship clause in the constitution should be revisited to not allow other faiths to develop in Vanuatu.
Religion plays an important role in Vanuatu, whose 270,000 population is largely Christian, with the majority Protestants and about 12 percent Catholic.
The Daily Post Newspaper quoted the founder of the Muslim community in Vanuatu, Mohammed Siddiq Sambo of Mele Village, as saying there are at least 1,000 Muslims in the country.
Moses, a Presbyterian and clergyman most of his life, was sworn last week as the 9th President of the republic of Vanuatu.
The President is elected by an electoral college of 57 member. Reports vary as to how many votes he received. The Daily Post reported that he received 39 votes which is just above the required number of 38.
The 61-year-old President holds a Diploma in Divinity and Mission from Sydney Missionary and Bible College in Australia and another Diploma in Theology in Talua Bible College as well as a graduate of Alan Walker School of Evangelism, Australia.
Post’s media director Dan McGarry said support for Moses stemmed from a desire for “moral leadership”.
“He is well-regarded within his community and within the church. He is somebody to whom the nation will be looking for a degree of moral leadership.
“Our constitution says that the office of the president symbolises the unity of the people… and there are occasions when that becomes a very important issue.”
Source
Related Posts:
News category: Asia Pacific.
