The Vanuatu parliament will not sit in an extra-ordinary session on Monday as requested by the opposition.
The opposition leader, Maxime Carlot Korman, has confirmed that he has received a letter from the speaker, Georges Wells, who ruled that the two motions aimed at ousting the government are not in order.
The opposition National United United Party and the Republican Party deposited the motions.
It has now emerged that some government MPs had joined the action but then withdrawn their signatures.
This left the motions with only 23 signatures and short of the simple majority among the 52 MPs needed to request an extraordinary session of parliament.
