Vanuatu goes to the polls today to elect a new 53-member parliament. Anti-corruption advocates and others say today's vote is crucial in deciding whether or not the country can veer away from years of political instability.
Every bare wall, fence, and palm tree in Port Vila has been covered in candidate posters in the build-up to today, but many have said it has been a short, hurried campaign.
The snap election was triggered last month when the president, Baldwin Lonsdale, dissolved parliament to end weeks of political instability following the conviction of 15 MPs for corruption.
263 candidates -- only eight of them women -- are standing, with many of them promising to enact constitutional reforms to rid politics of corruption and regular motions of no confidence.
But few observers have been prepared to predict an outcome for who may form the next government, but it is certain that it will be a coalition.
Meanwhile, the Vanuatu Electoral Commission said some candidates withdrew their names from contesting today's election just a day before polling.
Its chairman, Kilion Taleo, said a Torres constituency candidate, Raoule Woleg, indicated he would no longer be running in the snap election.
Mr Taleo said he had also received information that two candidates in Santo, one in Pentecost and one in Tongoa, who indicated they would also be withdrawing.
He appealed for them not to drop out, even if they thought they would lose the election, and said removing their photos from ballot papers was a burden to polling officers and cost public money.
"It will create a lot of confusion for example - starting to move their photos inside the ballot boxes. It is going to cause disturbances inside these printing ballot papers. So I am appealing to those candidates not to decide to withdraw in the last minute because it is going to create a lot of impact to this election."