parliament

The Finance Minister, Gaeton Pikioune, needs parliamentary approval for the budget of more than $US58 million.

The Daily Post newspaper said the bulk of this money is earmarked for the Ministry of Finance, with significant quantities for education and public works.

Speaker Job Pomat, in a press conference after the sitting, said he will now allow due process to take place.

“I have received it. When parliament meets on the 28^th (May), it will look at this notice, after it goes through the process of the Private Business Committee,” Pomat said.

He explained that Parliament may not necessarily vote on the 28^th but with the motion notice given yesterday afternoon, this will go for the notice paper when parliament next meets.

A parliamentary motion, moved by Prime Minister Charlot Salwai, was passed after it was unanimously supported by both sides of the House.

Vanuatu Daily Post reports the motion sought to amend how parliament can be requested by the majority of members to sit in an extraordinary session.

The change means that a request by majority members of parliament will no longer be signed at secret locations as the signing will have to be made in the presence of the Speaker or the Clerk.

The change was effective immediately.

President Moses made the appeal in his official address before opening the second ordinary session of Parliament today.

"The MPs that serve in Parliament and those in government institutions have great responsibilities.

He also advised MPs to always put God first in everyday life.

A special session of parliament will be called today to hear the motion with the opposition claiming to have the support of 30 of the 52 MPs in parliament.

This is despite several government MPs, whose names appear on the motion, claiming their signatures have been forged.

The MP for Malo/Aore constituency, Uri Warawara, has presented copies of his signature and passport to the Vanuatu Daily Post as proof that they are different from the marks on the motion documents.

Their call for a 50-50 system comes as the National Council of Women turned 38 years this week.

Council President Leias Cullwick says locking down equal representation in parliament will allow ni-Vanuatu women to have a real say in the decisions shaping their lives.

PRN reports Vanuatu has only had five women politicians win at the polls since independence in 1980.

It's currently one of only three countries in the world with no women in parliament.

The air conditioning in the Chamber broke down during the sitting and left everyone in the room including those on the public gallery sweating profusely during most the six-hour session. Towards the end of the sitting a consensus from the floor was sought and the two back doors of the Chamber opened, allowing the breeze to blow in and provide some relief to everyone in the room.

FBC News said the suspension was for 30 days with immediate effect.

The NFP provided its 2013-2014 Annual Audited Accounts to the Registrar, which was published in the Fiji Sun on November 13th.

FBC News said the accounts were not audited by an accountant certified by the Fiji Institute of Accountants.

Jimmy has also assured suppliers that they too will get paid.

He says the public machinery is functioning as usual, despite the dissolution of parliament last week.

Joe Natuman and the Prime Minister Sato Kilman have been meeting all weekend to try and resolve the impasse, which began after 14 government MPs were last month jailed for bribery.

On Friday, the country's highest court rejected their appeals, which means the 14 are now no longer MPs.

Kilman has rejected the opposition's proposal to form a government of national unity, instead saying he'd rather the President Baldwin Lonsdale dissolve parliament, which he threatened to do if an agreement was not reached by Sunday.