Baldwin Lonsdale

Lonsdale was born on Mota Lava, in the Banks Islands, in 1948.{{Cite news |url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/333232/vanuatu-in-mourning-after-president-s-sudden-death |title=Vanuatu in mourning after president's sudden death |access-date=18 June 2017 |work=Radio New Zealand |publication-date=17 June 2017}} Before becoming president, Lonsdale was a civil servant who served as the secretary general of the province of Torba on the island of Mota Lava. He later became an Anglican priest.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16426199|title=Vanuatu profile - Leaders|work=BBC|access-date=17 June 2017}}

Lonsdale was occasionally referred to as Womtelo Reverend Baldwin Lonsdale.{{cite web|url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/06/17/president-vanuatu-baldwin-lonsdale-dies-aged-67|title=President of Vanuatu Baldwin Lonsdale dies aged 67|work=SBS|access-date=17 June 2017}} The title of Womtelo (“Rising Sun” in Mwotlap) is the highest rank within the customary system of chiefly grades of his native island Mota Lava.The name Womtelo can be traced etymologically to an expression *wo mata i aloa (in the ancient Proto-Torres-Banks language), literally “eye of the sun”. See p.234-235 of {{Citation

| last = François

| first = Alexandre

| author-link = Alexandre François (linguist)

| contribution = Shadows of bygone lives: The histories of spiritual words in northern Vanuatu

| editor1-last = Mailhammer

| editor1-first = Robert

| title = Lexical and structural etymology: Beyond word histories

| volume = 11

| pages = 185–244

| publisher = DeGruyter Mouton

| place = Berlin

| year = 2013

| series = Studies in Language Change

| isbn = 978-1-61451-058-1

| contribution-url = https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00869690

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Lonsdale was elected president in an indirect election by an electoral college consisting of members of parliament and provincial governors. The vote took eight rounds; the longest ballot in the country's history. In the last vote, Lonsdale received 46 votes of 58 possible satisfying the two-thirds majority requirement.{{cite web|url=http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/2014-09/22/content_33580234.htm|title=Baldwin Lonsdale sworn in as Vanuatu's new president - China.org.cn|website=www.china.org.cn|access-date=23 June 2017}} The speaker of Vanuatu's parliament, Philip Boedoro, served as interim president during the voting.{{cite web |url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/253660/vanuatu-speaker-becomes-acting-president |title=Vanuatu speaker becomes acting president |author= |date=3 September 2014 |website= |publisher=Radio New Zealand International |access-date=23 September 2014}}

Lonsdale was the second Anglican priest after John Bani to be elected president of Vanuatu.

In his first speech as president, Lonsdale stressed the importance of the appointment for the province of Torba, promised to uphold the constitution, and asked the people of Vanuatu to stand united.{{cite web |url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/255245/vanuatu-elects-new-president |title=Vanuatu elects new president |author= |date=23 September 2014 |website= |publisher=Radio New Zealand International |access-date=23 September 2014}}

File:Baldwin Lonsdale.jpg of the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu]]

In March 2015, Lonsdale, who was attending the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan, appealed for international assistance in the aftermath of Cyclone Pam.{{cite web|author=Elizabeth Chuck|work=NBC News|date=March 15, 2015|access-date=March 15, 2015|title='Disaster' in Vanuatu After Cyclone Pam Tears Through Pacific Archipelago|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/cyclone-pam-rips-through-vanuatu-south-pacific-n323391}}

In October 2015, while President Lonsdale was abroad, the then Speaker of Parliament Marcellino Pipite used his position as Acting President to issue a 'presidential pardon' to himself and 13 other MPs who had just been convicted of bribery and were awaiting sentence. Returning to Vanuatu only hours after the pardon was issued, Lonsdale expressed his sorrow at what had happened and gave a widely welcomed speech declaring that nobody is above the law and that "I will clean the dirt from my backyard".{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-12/vanuatu-president-vows-to-stop-crooked-ways-after-mps-pardoned/6846002|title=Vanuatu president vows to 'stop crooked ways' after MPs pardoned|date=12 October 2015|publisher=}} After consulting with legal experts and other leaders, Lonsdale revoked the pardon, citing the articles in the Vanuatu constitution which oblige leaders to avoid conflicts of interest and avoid bringing their integrity into question.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/16/vanuatu-president-revokes-pardons-passed-by-maverick-speaker|title=Vanuatu president revokes pardons passed by maverick speaker|first=Oliver|last=Holmes|date=16 October 2015|publisher=}}{{cite web|url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/287185/vanuatu-pardons-revoked|title=Vanuatu pardons revoked|date=15 October 2015|publisher=}} Lonsdale's decision was upheld by the Supreme Court of Vanuatu.{{cite web|url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/287646/vanuatu-judge-says-mps'-pardons-invalid|title=Vanuatu judge says MPs' pardons invalid|date=21 October 2015|publisher=}}

Lonsdale died on 17 June 2017 in Port Vila of a heart attack at the age of 68.{{cite web|url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/333232/baldwin-lonsdale-president-of-vanuatu-dies|title=Baldwin Lonsdale, President of Vanuatu, dies|work=Radio NZ |access-date=17 June 2017}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-40313334 |title=Vanuatu president Baldwin Lonsdale dies after heart attack |access-date=18 June 2017 |work=BBC |publication-date=17 June 2017}}{{cite web|url= https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/93797512/vanuatu-president-baldwin-lonsdale-dies-reports |title= Vanuatu President Baldwin- Lonsdale dies |publisher= Stuff (Fairfax Media) |date=17 June 2017}}

In his honour, the Arep Secondary School located on Sola, Vanuatu was renamed “Baldwin Lonsdale Memorial School” (abbreviated BLMS).[https://www.facebook.com/Baldwin-Lonsdale-Memorial-School-News-Development-1915667221990450/ Baldwin Lonsdale Memorial School News & Development] (community page on Facebook).

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Category:1948 births

Category:2017 deaths

Category:People from Torba Province

Category:Presidents of Vanuatu

Category:Vanuatuan Anglican priests

Category:Vanuatuan chiefs

Category:21st-century Vanuatuan politicians