5 Dec 2008

Vanuatu Supreme Court orders parliament to sit again to debate motion against PM

3:16 pm on 5 December 2008

Vanuatu's opposition whip, Moana Carcasses, says he doesn't want to receive full pay for attending next week's sitting to debate another motion of no-confidence against the Prime Minister Edward Natapei.

The Supreme Court has ruled that parliament must sit next Tuesday to debate the motion.

The opposition had challenged a ruling by the speaker that the motion they had lodged last week wasn't in order.

Next Tuesday's sitting will be an addition to the parliament session scheduled to end last week, for which MPs stand to get full pay.

The opposition whip, Moana Carcasses, says launching yet another motion is about the need to debate the issue and not about money.

"I wrote to the speaker explaining that I will not take my subsistence allowance. Normally from Friday to next week - Tuesday debating - we're going to get 67,000 vatu. I'm just going to take 7,000 vatu on the day sitting for the motion. The 60,000, I wrote to the speaker, I don't need them, it can go back to the basket of the government and they can supply free education to at least two kids."

Moana Carcasses