Vanuatu

The Forum Observer Team comprises Mr Pita Vuki, Commissioner and Supervisor of Elections of the Kingdom of Tonga, and Ms Taggy Tangimetua, Chief Electoral Officer of the Cook Islands. The team is supported by the Forum Secretariat.

Willie Toama submitted the urgent application after his name failed to make the Electoral Commission's official list of candidates in the southern constituency of Tanna.

The Electoral Commission told the court that it didn't declare Mr Toama eligible because his name was not on the electoral list.

Of the 263 candidates contesting next Friday's election, only eight are women.

Jenny Ligo, from Vanuatu Women against Crime and Corruption, says 10 women contested in 2012, but none of them was elected.

She says the political system is often skewed against women, and it is incredibly hard for them to be able to break through.

Maroochy Sunshine was contractually obliged to provide 22 workers from Vanuatu, who were in Australia as part of the Seasonal Worker Program, $500 a week for at least 30 hours' work.

The company allegedly arranged sporadic work in the Lockyer Valley, Sunshine Coast and Bundaberg areas in July 2014.

Thirteen workers were paid nothing for their work, the Fair Work Ombudsman claimed. Other workers were allegedly paid amounts between $50 and $300, were underpaid on their leave entitlements and received their pay infrequently.

Our correspondent says the warning comes after police received allegations that a Port Vila businessman is collecting his employees' cards.

The businessman, a former French national who was recently granted citizenship, is one of three naturalised citizens contesting the Port Vila constituency.

The charges stem from an incident in November when Marcellino Pipite, in his then-capacity as acting president, pardoned himself and 13 other MPs a day after they were convicted of corruption.

The president, Baldwin Lonsdale, overturned the pardons on his return to the country, and the Supreme Court later threw out the MPs' bid to have that decision dismissed.

A former Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Hubert Ingraham, will lead the group, which also comprises of Australian federal MP Jane Prentice and a former supervisor of elections in Fiji, Walter Rigamoto.

The group says it will examine pre-election preparations, voting and counting procedures and the announcement of results.

Barak Sope, who led the country from 1999 to 2001, says Vanuatu risks being run by foreigners under its current policy.

Five naturalised citizens are contesting the snap election, out of over 200 candidates.

But Mr Sope says the law must be changed, and it was only prompted by politicians looking at ways of making money.

Money earned from the sale will allow him to pay the tuition fees of his three children, help them complete studies and meet his family living expenses.

The local farmer who has two sons and a daughter said the only way to raise money for his children fees is to depend on gardening.

His eldest will be sitting year seven this year at the Epauto Adventist School in Port Vila while others are still in primary school.

Saba said selling the entire kava plants would enable him to complete the entire fees for this year  before he starts farming for next year’s tuition.

Some candidates have recently complained that members of the former parliament and public servants have been using government vehicles to carry out their campaigning.

The Daily Post reports that the police on Monday issued a statement warning that the force will deal with anyone found to be misusing a government vehicle.