Vanuatu Opposition

Christophe Emelee, a former parliamentary secretary, is accused of accepting his previous role after a failed motion of no confidence against the prime minister.

The Vanuatu Daily Post reports the opposition whip Jay Ngwele as claiming Mr Emelee took the job as a bribe in exchange for support against the motion.

Mr Ngwele has also accused another MP, Bruno Lengkon, of taking the same job for the same reasons.

Both MPs insist they accepted their posts in good faith.

The move comes a week after an Appeal Court ruled against the Government's creation of Parliamentary Secretaries, declaring them 'void and of no effect'.

Ishmael Kalsakau accuses the government of using the positions to shore up their support and misusing public funds for the salaries.

The Vanuatu Daily Post reported the latest move was in line with his promise to use every legal avenue to ensure that justice was seen to be done.

Mr Kalsakau said he would also file a number of leadership cases after the Independence celebrations are concluded.

Opposition Whip, Jay Ngwele said the Court of Appeal ruled that the parliamentary secretary positions are unconstitutional given there are no legal provisions for such positions.

The Opposition is concerned that enormous public funds have been used to fund these positions, which were created in 2016.

It was the sixth attempt by the opposition bloc, led by Ishmael Kalsakau, to remove the government since the 2016 election.

Mr Kalsakau failed to get the quorum needed to topple the government.

An election is due by January 2020.

The Vanuatu Daily Post reported the defection of MPs Ephraim Kalsakau and Fred Tasso of the Workers Party for Vanuatu Development brings the opposition numbers up to 10.

Speaking to the paper about the move Mr Tasso claimed Prime Minister Charlot Salwai failed to honour a promise to grant the party a parliamentary secretary position in the Labour department.

He said they also did not want to be part of any attempt to increase MP salaries, while the ordinary citizens of the country struggled to make ends meet.

RNZ reports the support of two-thirds majority of the 52 MPs, is required when the proposed reforms goes before Parliament, for the 2nd reading, which is scheduled for December 12.
 
The Government currently commands only 33 MPs, more than enough to defeat a motion of no confidence but not enough to advance with the proposed changes to the Constitution.
 

Opposition Leader, Ishmael Kalsakau says the boycott will be in protest of the government’s proposed constitutional amendments as well as its handling of the proposed changes.

Mr Kalsakau claimed the amendments are unconstitutional as they do not conform with the spirit of the constitution in respect to the traditional beliefs and Christian principles, the United Nations Charter on Human Rights and is also undemocratic.

In a press conference today, Opposition leader Ishmael Kalsakau confirmed 14 MPs are on his side of the opposition and 10 have added their signatures in the solidarity agreement while 4, who are either in their respective constituencies or overseas, have agreed to sign-up when they arrive in the capital for the Special Parliamentary session on Thursday this week.

In the current makeup, components of the opposition bloc are Melanesian Progressive Party, Union of Moderate Parties, Iauko Group, the People’s Service Party and an independent.