An electoral college will meet in Vanuatu today to vote for a new head of state.
Vanuatu parliament building in the capital Port Vila. Photo: RNZI/ Walter Zweifel
The election will be held at parliament to decide a replacement for President Baldwin Lonsdale, who died of a heart attack two weeks ago.
The college - made up of all sitting MPs and the chairs of provincial councils - will meet in Port Vila for the vote.
The electoral commission released a list of 16 candidates on Friday night, which includes some prominent nominees.
Among them are former prime ministers Barak Sope and Maxim Carlot Korman, and former speakers Dunstan Hilton and Sam Dan Avock.
Former police commissioners Joshua Bong and Louis Patu Navuko are also on the list, as is the former manager of the Chamber of Commerce, Louis Kalnpel.
Late President Baldwin Lonsdale Photo: AFP
The only woman on the list is Doroline Laloyer, a pastor and rights advocate.
The electoral college will go through successive rounds of voting until one candidate receives an outright majority of two thirds.
