Vanuatu elects on national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. The Parliament or Parlement has 52 members, elected for a four-year term in multi-seat constituencies. The president is elected for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting of members of Parliament and the presidents of Regional Councils.
Vanuatu has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments.
See Vanuatuan general election, 2012.
See below.