Vanuatu Parliament

The Vanuatu Daily Post reported this was confirmed by the public relations officer of the Prime Minister's Office, Antoine Malsungai.

The Court of Appeal, Vanuatu's highest court, will hear Leingkone's argument against the Supreme Court decision and decide whether to uphold or reverse the decision.

Meanwhile, the motion-of-no-confidence in prime minister Sato Kilman is expected to be debated in a postponed sitting on Friday.

An extraordinary parliament sitting was called on Monday to debate a vote of no-confidence in the recently installed Prime Minister, Sato Kilman.

On the opposition side 26 MPs turned up but only two government MPs showed face; Vanua'aku Party MP for Malekula, Esmon Sae, and his counterpart from Malo constituency, Wesley Rasu.

The other 22 MPs loyal to government boycotted the session forcing an adjournment until Friday due to the lack of a quorum.

Kilman losing support

The Vanuatu Parliament confirmed to RNZ Pacific the motion submitted yesterday was signed by 27 MPs and they are requesting Parliament convene an extraordinary session to debate the motion.

There are 52 seats in Vanuatu's parliament' with one seat in the Malekula constituency vacant, this means 24 MPs did not sign the motion.

Prime Minister Kalsakau has already faced a motion of no confidence, which was eventually withdrawn by Opposition leader Bob Loughman during the parliamentary session due to enough support.

The reasons for the motion are unclear at this stage.

A statement said “The announcement was made by the Speaker of Parliament, Member of Parliament (MP) for Epi, Simeon Seule, on Thursday after the official opening of the session by the Head of State.”

Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau also had an important matter to attend to, which made it necessary to adjourn the session.

22 Bills have been listed for the First Ordinary Sitting, including the Bill for the National Security (Amendment) Act No. of 2023 and Bill for the Leadership Code (Amendment) Act No. of 2023.

Speaker of the House Seoule Simeon welcomed MPs back to parliament and gave the floor to the President of the Republic of Vanuatu Nikenike Vurobaravu.

Although the last legislature could not complete its mandate due to political instability Nikenike Vurobaravu commended the Vanuatu people for peacefully electing the current house and noted the first ever unopposed election of the current Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau.

He said it showed Vanuatu's democracy is alive and well but tempered his comments with a warning to the MPs of the current house reports RNZ Pacific.

The following 22 Bills are listed to be tabled during the session;

RNZ Pacific has previously reported that Prime Minister Bob Loughman's request to president Nikenike Vurobaravu for a dissolution of parliament had been declined.

However, Loughman on Wednesday told RNZ Pacific he was not aware of any such decision.

State House chief executive Sam Kaipam has since confirmed that the president has not yet responded to the prime minister's request but he is monitoring the political situation closely.

This means a dissolution of parliament is still on the cards ahead of Friday's no confidence vote.

Loughman and 20MPs loyal to his government boycotted parliament on Tuesday morning forcing an adjournment to Friday because of a lack of a quorum; and effectively thwarting the opposition's attempt to move the motion against him.

In response to the boycott opposition leader, Ralph Regenvanu, said Mr Loughman was only delaying the inevitable.

"We think its just a power grab, it's a last ditch attempt to try in stay in power beyond this week because the numbers have shifted," Ralph Regenvanu said.

Bob Loughman, who was elected in April 2020, is due to face a motion of no confidence in his leadership on Tuesday 16 August with the opposition group led by, Ralph Regenvanu, claiming to have the support of 29 MPs in the 52 seat parliament.

Speaking in Bislama during aVBTC press conference on Monday afternoon Mr Loughman confirmed that after a decision by his council of ministers he had met with the president of Vanuatu, Nikenike Vurobaravu, on Sunday and requested his consideration for a dissolution of parliament in light of the political instability.

Six motions including a motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister, election of a new PM and the reinstatement of Gracia Shadrack are to be moved in the extraordinary session.

Other motions include the removal and appointment of the 1^st and 2^nd Deputy Speaker of Parliament and the election of the 3^rd and 4^th Deputy Speakers.

Yesterday afternoon, 27 Members of Parliament signed a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Bob Loughman Weibur and called for an extraordinary session of parliament.