A newly-elected MP for Vanuatu's capital, Port Vila, says he is confident the multi-party bloc he is part of will get the numbers needed to form the next government.
Kenneth Natapei, the son of the recently-deceased former Prime Minister Edward Natapei, was elected to one of the town's six seats in snap elections on Friday.
His Vanua'aku party has entered into a bloc with several other parties, including the Graon mo Jastis Pati and National United Party, to try to gain the majority needed to form a government and make constitutional changes hoped to end years of political instability.
Mr Natapei says the bloc needs to win the support of some independent MPs to form a government, but he is confident that will happen and that it will last a full term.
"We will keep together. We signed an agreement a few weeks before the campaign, so we are trying to gather all our numbers together and try and see if we can have a simple majority to run the next government."
Vanuatu held snap elections last Friday.