Political impasse continues in Vanuatu

PORT VILA – Vanuatu’s opposition says the prime minister should step down if he can’t agree to form a unifying government to last until next year’s election.

Prime Minister Sato Kilman has been meeting with the opposition to try and resolve a political impasse, which began after 14 government MPs were last month jailed for bribery and this week lost their appeals.

The President, Baldwin Lonsdale, had earlier set Sunday as the deadline for the impasse to be resolved, but he is yet to announce any action he might now take.

However, the Speaker has now called parliament to sit on December 14 to pass a budget.

A leading opposition MP, Joe Natuman, says it’s in the best interests of Vanuatu that the budget is passed and parliament is not dissolved, and he insists that Kilman should agree to work with him.

“The president himself requested us – the opposition and the government – to come up with some arrangement to have a stable government and we have done our part.

“The opposition, we went to speak to the prime minister, even this morning, regarding some proposals but the prime minister has rejected that and is trying to get the parliament dissolved.”

Natuman says if Kilman can’t govern or work with the opposition, then he should stand down.

Kilman has rejected the opposition’s proposal to form a government of national unity, instead saying he’d rather the Lonsdale dissolve parliament.

But Natuman says the president should respect the opposition’s offer.

“Now that the parliament is called, we hope that the president of the republic will not do anything that might stop the calling of parliament in which we will approve the budget which will assist the population of the country to meet some of the urgent disaster needs which we are facing at the moment.”

- RNZI