The election of the Council of Chiefs of the islands of Emae, Makira, and Mataso in the Shepherd group of islands took place on September 8, 2023. There were two endorsement of the Executive of the Area and the Island Council of Chiefs, which went smoothly due to the usual custom consensus.

In addition, the chiefs from the three small islands nominated their representatives to the Port Vila and Luganville Chiefs Councils.

However, the nomination of the Island Council of Chiefs to the National Council of Chiefs (Malvatumauri) was a bit of a challenge as there were three election attempts and the results were the same.

The situation forced the Chairman and Executive to apply the Malvatumauri criteria on of the oldest ranking person who had participated in the election to represent them in the National Council of Chiefs.

Chief Shem Mesek of Mataso Island was nominated as a member of the Malvatumauri National Council of Chiefs for the next five years.

Chief Shem Mesek's appointment will take effect at the end of October 2023.