Vanuatu gears up for snap general election next week
by AFP Staff Writers
Sydney (AFP) Jan 6, 2025

Pacific nation Vanuatu will vote next week in a snap election briefly delayed after a deadly earthquake last month, the country's electoral office said Monday.

The nationwide poll was pushed back after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake on December 17 toppled buildings in capital Port Vila and killed at least 14 people.

The Vanuatu Electoral Office said the vote had been moved from January 14 to January 16.

Vanuatu's parliament was dissolved in November before disgruntled MPs could launch a "no confidence" motion designed to topple Prime Minister Charlot Salwai.

An election must be held within 60 days of parliament's dissolution.

Such motions have in recent years come to define Vanuatu's creaky democracy.

Vanuatu changed prime minister 20 times between 1991 and 2017.

Four different leaders held office in a particularly turbulent period between November 2022 and October 2023.

Salwai will contest his seat in next week's vote, as will fellow former prime ministers Ishmael Kalsakau and Bob Loughman.

Vanuatu's political system is dominated by small parties and elections typically produce unwieldy coalition governments.

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