By Hilaire Bule on Vanuatu
Vanuatu parliament Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
In Vanuatu, only 180 applicants to contest the snap election on October 13 got their names published by the Electoral Commission.
The chairman of the commission Edward Kaltamat said his office sent out 394 application forms.
But on the closing date, just 225 applicants had returned their forms.
Kaltamat said out of those 225, they only published the name of 180 eligible candidates during the first reading.
He said there are 45 names the commission has put on hold because they have debts to pay before they can have their names published during the second reading on Wednesday.
The commission has given them 72 hours to pay their debts, which include land rent, water bills and road tax.
169 people who collected the application forms did not return them to the electoral office.
Political parties and independent candidates launched their electoral campaign over the weekend for the October 13 snap election to determine who enters the 52-seat parliament.
Meanwhile, six former prime ministers of Vanuatu are lining up to contest the election in a little over two weeks.
They are Serge Vohor in Santo, Charlot Salwai and Ham Lini on Pentecost, Sato Kilman on Malekula, and Joe Natuman and the outgoing prime minister Bob Loughman on Tanna.
Vohor will contest for his newly established political party, Pikinini blong Ground Movement, which means Children of Land Movement.
Salwai will run for the Reunification Movement for Change, Lini the Pentecost Island Custom Movement, Kilman the Melanesian Progressive Party, Natuman as an independent and Loughman for the Vanuaku Party.