Vanuatu special parl session called off

The speaker of Vanuatu's Parliament has called off a scheduled special session following a request from the Prime Minister Charlot Salwai.

Earlier the Prime Minister Charlot Salwai wrote to the speaker, Esmon Saimon, seeking more time for the parliamentary committee tasked with reviewing constitutional reform.

Parliament was due to meet on Thursday for the special session to amend the constitution, but it was adjourned when opposition MPs boycotted.

Out of 52 members only the government's 33 MPs were present and Mr Saimon adjourned the session until Monday.

But Mr Salwai sought to give more time for the Ad Hoc Committee tasked with reviewing planned constitutional reform, in order to work towards consensus between government and opposition.

The Speaker has now officially revoked the summons for parliament to meet on Monday.

It's not yet clear when parliament will meet again.

Last week, the opposition tried to roll the government but on the day of the expected vote, some backers of the no-confidence motion withdrew their support and the motion was declared invalid.

While Mr Salwai has a strong majority, the government appears to be a few MPs short of the two-thirds parliamentary majority required to pass constitutional amendments.

It's clear the chances of the government's plans for constitutional reform - a central aim of which is to create political stability - rely on close engagement with the opposition.