PORT VILA – Five days since 15 of his MPs were convicted of bribery charges, Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Sato Kilman is yet to say anything about the controversial pardoning of 14 of them by an acting president.

The Supreme Court on Friday found 14 MPs, including the deputy prime minister and speaker of parliament, guilty of giving and receiving corrupt payments.

But in an extraordinary turn of events on Sunday, parliament’s speaker Marcellino Pipite, who was standing in as acting president, pardoned himself and all but one of the convicted MPs using the pardoning powers invested in the office of president by Vanuatu’s constitution.

But the president Baldwin Lonsdale, on assuming his post on his return from overseas, said Pipite acted unlawfully and has promised to take action against him.

The head of Transparency Vanuatu, Willie Tokon, said the fact that half the government has been found guilty of bribery is “very serious”.

He said Prime Minister Kilman needs to end his silence and clarify what he will do.

“He should come out, make a decision and tell the people of Vanuatu whether he likes to run this government with these convicted MPs, Tokon said.

“Common sense would say he should liaise with the leader of the opposition, form a government that is much cleaner than what we have now and prevent a snap election.”

Radio New Zealand’s correspondent in Vanuatu said Kilman opened an Auditor Generals conference in Port Vila on Tuesday, where he spoke of the need for good governance and anti-corruption measures.

However, he didn’t address the case specifically and immediately left after giving his speech, avoiding waiting journalists.

Transparency Vanuatu said the situation engulfing the country’s politics is very serious and reform is needed.

Tokon said the situation is very worrying and is without precedent in Vanuatu’s history.

“It’s serious in the fact that we are seeing blatant, open abuse of power and hunger for power that does not seem to have any end.”

Tokon says the pardoned MPs need to leave parliament and for constitutional loopholes to be closed.

A professor of constitutional law at New Zealand’s Auckland University, Bill Hodge, said President Lonsdale may have the power to reverse the pardons.

Professor Hodge said the pardons had the veneer of constitutional legitimacy but there is possibly a way forward.

“The attorney general will be doing some research and I bet he can’t find any precedents – but I think it’s worth a go and I bet the president can pass effectively a royal pardon in reverse and say ‘the purported pardon issued by my substitute is reversed and is invalid and cannot be relied upon so that the judicial process can continue’.”

Vanuatu’s traditional chiefs have also called on the president to revoke the pardoning of the MPs.

The President of Port Vila Town Council of Chiefs, Isaac Worwor, said the authorities have to be careful not to set worrying precedents which could affect investment in Vanuatu.

“We’re really concerned about the respect for the judiciary. Like the president has said ‘no one is above the law’. We have to make sure that everyone is being treated equally. We have to treat whoever committed a crime the same as others.”

Chief Worwor said if there is to be any pardon it should wait until after sentencing which is due next week.

Lonsdale is vowing to take action over the decision by his acting president.

He returned to the country on Sunday and has since been in meetings with political and civil society leaders, including former presidents and the influential National Council of Chiefs.

At a news conference in Port Vila last night, Lonsdale expressed his sorrow for what he called the “unlawful decision” made by Pipite to pardon the MPs in his absence.

He said he had consulted the State Law Office on several options available to him and he would make his decision in the next few days.

He said no one was above the law and he would do everything he could to make sure that justice prevailed at all times.