The Vanuatu opposition boycotted parliament this morning forcing the speaker to suspend the sitting until Monday next week. 23 November 2018. Photo: Hilaire Bule/ Vanuatu Government
Vanuatu government MPs have boycotted an extraordinary sitting of parliament this morning where a motion of no confidence was due to be moved against Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau.
Parliamentary staff have told RNZ Pacific that the mover of the motion, opposition leader and ex-PM Bob Loughman turned up to parliament with 25 MPs.
The no confidence motion was initially signed by 29 MPs, but on Wednesday, at least three MPs had publicly withdrawn their support.
Vanuatu's Parliament has 52 seats with one currently vacant, meaning 26 MPs are needed to carry or defeat the motion of no confidence.
However, with the entire government bench absent at the special sitting today, the Speaker Seoule Simeon was forced to adjourn the sitting because of a lack of a quorum - which required two-thirds of the house or 34 MPs to be present.
This is the second motion of no confidence in just eight months against Kalsakau after the first one on May.
Vanuatu Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau had reshuffled his cabinet days ahead of the no confidence motion.
The motion stated that Kalsakau and his government "must conduct its relations impartially and not allow our independent and sovereign nation to be sucked into a game it does not want and to be used inappropriately by competing nations to exert dominance in our region".
Vanuatu Women Against Crime and Corruption chairwoman Jenny Ligo told The Guardian that the inability of politicians to serve a full term has severely weakened governance in the country.
"One of my grave concerns is that I think there is a lot of uncertainty," Ligo said.
"Vanuatu is in a great political crisis right now because we always have a coalition government, which many of us see as being not fair to anyone."
Loughman, the mover of the current motion of no confidence, was himself toppled by the threat of a leadership challenge last year.
But in his case, rather than facedown the opposition on the floor, Loughman chose to request a dissolution of parliament in August which triggered an October snap election.
Parliament is due to resume next week on Wednesday August 16 at 2pm.