Sethy Regenvanu

Pastor Sethy John Regenvanu is a politician in Vanuatu. He is one of several churchmen who have been active in Vanuatu politics, like Father Walter Lini, Rev. Frederick Karlomuana Timakata, and Father Gérard Leymang.

Hailing from Uripiv island near Malekula, he became lands minister in the last pre-independence government of the New Hebrides in November 1979.

In February 1983 he succeeded Timakata as deputy prime minister. In January 1988 he became minister of education, youth and sports, and in December 1991 he again became deputy prime minister. Later he served as chairman of the electoral commission.

In 1994 he led a group which broke away from Lini's National United Party and formed the People's Democratic Party.

He has also been social issues coordinator in the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu. In October 2004 he was seconded for a three-year appointment to St. Andrew's, Suva, Fiji.

He married an Australian-born missionary teacher, Dorothy Rutter, who also became a pastor in the Presbyterian Church. They have five sons, including Ralph Regenvanu, director of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre.

He has written an autobiography, "Laef Blong Mi" (2004).