Vanuatu rejects MSG appointment

VANUATU – Vanuatu’s Council of Ministers has reiterated that it won’t accept the appointment of the Fijian Amena Yauvoli as new director-general of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

Yauvoli’s selection to the position was confirmed last week by the MSG chairman, Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare.

However, Vanuatu’s prime minister Charlot Salwai objected, saying the appointment was to have been settled at next month’s MSG leaders summit in Port Vila.

Sogavare has denied Vanuatu’s claim that the appointment had been made outside of MSG rules.

He said that following the sudden resignation of Peter Forau as MSG director-general last year, it was a matter of urgency to appoint someone to the position in the interests of the secretariat being able to function effectively.

However, an announcement by Fiji’s government earlier in the month that Yauvoli was to be the new head of the MSG secretariat came as a surprise to Vanuatu’s government.

Vanuatu’s government planned to nominate the country’s ambassador to the European union, Roy Mickey-Joy, for the position.

It now says Mickey-Joy and the other applicants who applied for the position of DG of the MSG can seek judicial review of the appointment decision announced by the chairman.

The decision by Vanuatu’s government to stand firm on the director-general appointment issue comes in close proximity to the West Papua issue.

The Council of Ministers has also instructed the government to propose at the upcoming summit that the United Liberation Movement for West Papua become a full member of the MSG.

- RNZI