Vanuatu calls snap election amid superpower contest in Pacific Islands | Reuters
SYDNEY, Oct 12 (Reuters) – The South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu will hold a snap election on Thursday with six former prime ministers contesting the poll, after parliament was dissolved in August to avoid a vote of no confidence in the government, said local media.
Opposition leader Ralph Regenvanu of the GJP Party has accused Prime Minister Bob Loughman of attempting to make “dangerous amendments” to the Vanuatu constitution in June by proposing a shift from a four-year to five-year election cycle and limiting the chief justice to a five-year term.
Loughman will contest the election and his Vannua’aku Party has campaigned by pointing to his government’s track record of development since elected in 2020, compared to the previous eight years of government.
Vanuatu’s parliament was dissolved in August and court documents show an application to have the dissolution overturned was supported by 27 out of 52 lawmakers, but was dismissed by the Supreme Court last month.
