New Vanuatu Prime Minister Sato Kilman Photo: UN.org
Analysis - a Vanuatu political commentator says the swift removal of the government took most people in the country by surprise.
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A vote of no confidence has led to a sudden change of government in Vanuatu.
Lasting only nine months, the previous government led by Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau, was removed following a ruling from the Court of Appeal, which dismissed an appeal from the former government, disputing the validity of the confidence vote.
Following the ruling on Monday, Sato Kilman became Prime Minister for a record fifth term.
"We were all taken by surprise when parliament met on Monday, very late in the day, 5pm, kava time, not a normal time for Parliament to meet. But parliament did meet and there was a vote and the new prime minister was elected," said Tess Newton Cain, Associate Professor and Project lead for the Pacific Hub at the Griffith Asia Institute in Queensland.
"Kilman is a very experienced politician and has had a number of stints as Prime Minister," she added.
Immediately after the vote Kilman announced his 12-member cabinet, including former opposition leader Bob Loughman as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Lands.
Other appointments are Ulrich Sumptoh as Minister of Climate Change and Johnny Koanapo, who returns to his former role as Minister of Finance.
Newton Cain said there are some very experienced and competent people in Kilman's Cabinet, particularly Loughman and Koanapo.
She also noted that the last time Kilman was Prime Minister, in 2015, half of his then Cabinet were convicted of bribery and corruption charges by the Supreme Court. A number of them served prison terms as a result.
"But there are some people in this current government whose names have been mentioned at a commission of inquiry in relation to misappropriation of development funding, and that commission of inquiry report has since been referred to the public prosecutor, we are yet to hear whether any charges or legal proceedings will result from that but if they do it may be that some of the current government maybe caught up in that."
Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau at the Korman Park in Port Vila. 20 August 2023 Photo: RNZ Pacific / Kelvin Anthony
Will the new government last?
When asked how long the new government is likely to remain in power Newton Cain was non-commital.
"Well, as I've said before, no one makes money by placing bets on Vanuatu politics. So it's hard to predict.
"Certainly, if you talk to people on the street and in the coffee shops, and particularly in the private sector, they are completely over this political game being played; they want a degree of stability and for people to just get on with doing their job.
"The current government has 27 seats, which is exactly the number required to establish a majority in a 52-seat parliament. But it's not a big number in that context.
"Usually, they would expect people to need 30 or 31, to be able to be confident as some kind of stability. So, I don't know whether there's much energy or will at the moment to support another change.
"But at the same time, I'm not confident to predict how long this government will last; we could see another motion of no confidence before the end of the year," she said.
"Unfortunately, the level of politics and politicking in Vanuatu now seems to have got to the point where getting into government is everybody's main game rather than being parliamentarians being legislators, and being focused on taking the country forward."
The new opposition bloc
With a new government comes a new opposition. The new opposition has appointed former prime minister Charlot Salwai as its Leader and former Climate Change Minister Ralph Regenvanu as Deputy Leader.
Salwai believes that changing the government was premature, despite the change being consistent with the Constitution.
He suggests that some of the issues that had been blamed on the outgoing Prime Minister, such as Air Vanuatu's problems, had been long-standing challenges which could not have been resolved within the short tenure of the ousted government.
Gloria Julia King, the only female MP in parliament, was Deputy Speaker and was a very active member of the previous government. She now sits on the opposition benches.