The last national elections were held in March 1998. In November 1999, Barak Sope of the Melanesian Progressive Party assembled a parliamentary majority, and formed the Government. Outside observers consider the 1998 elections to have been generally free and fair. A total of 216 candidates contested 52 seats. Voter turnout was 63.6 percent.
Women are underrepresented in government and politics.
Traditional attitudes, in which men are dominant and women frequently are limited to customary family roles, hamper women from taking a more active role in economic and political life. There are no restrictions on the formation of local human rights organizations. The Vanuatu Human Rights Education Association no longer functions. Angered over her vigorous investigations of corruption allegations, in 1997 Parliament repealed the 1995 Ombudsman's Act, and, in June 1998, the Supreme Court upheld the repeal, and the President signed the legislation. Despite constitutional and legal protections, women remain victims of discrimination in this tradition-based society.