Vanuatu opposition launches attack on govt amid crisis

Transcript

Vanuatu's opposition has launched a multi-pronged attack on the government amid a political crisis triggered by last weekend's controversial pardon of 14 convicted MPs.

The opposition says it now has the numbers to roll the government.

Sally Round reports.

A government minister is among at least three government MPs who have defected to the opposition benches since the extraordinary turn of events on Sunday.

The Speaker who was standing in for the head of state pardoned himself and the other MPs found guilty of corruption.

The Opposition MP Ralph Regenvanu says a motion of no confidence has been lodged and it's called for a special sitting of Parliament next week.

"We'll leave it for the Speaker to declare it in order. He's probably going to rule it out of order. We definitely do have the majority of numbers in Parliament now as a result of people who signed the motion so we'll continue to pursue avenues to get rid of the government which is full of criminals at the moment."

The opposition has also made a police complaint against the pardoning.

It's also asked the government to explain why it made mysterious deposits to all MPs private bank accounts prior to the guilty announcements last Friday.

In the meantime news is filtering out onto the streets and anti-corruption campaigners are planning a protest march on Monday.

Jenny Ligo of the group Vanuatu Women Against Crime and Corruption says they are just waiting for the greenlight from the government.
 

"Whatever happens we will get on the streets. We will want to show our solidarity in upholding the law in Vanuatu. We want to give our messages clear to the leaders of this nation."

Allan Nafuki of Vanuatu's Council of Churches says the pardoning makes a mockery of the country's motto: "In God We Stand."

"What has been happening is not in the interests of our people, it's not in the interests of the church, it's only come to a conclusion by saying that it is the interest of each political party's interest."

A a former legal advisor to a previous Vanuatu government Siobhan McDonnell says the scandal could be a rare opportunity to finally stabilise the country's politics.

She says it's long been known the government is regularly changed through the exchange of money and gifts, but last week's Supreme Court ruling has laid that bare.

She says public outrage at both the verdict and pardonings could propel much-needed constitutional change.

"I guess what has happened as a result of the court case is people have seen the way money politics works and they have said 'we need a better style of politics, this is not operating in the way that the founding fathers imagined it would when they wrote the constitution.' Political parties are massively fragmented in Vanuatu now and there is a kind of horse trading that goes on because of that. That needs to shift."

The Prime Minister Sato Kilman who has been silent throughout the affair says he cannot comment until a final decision is taken by the judiciary or the head of state

The President, Baldwin Lonsdale, has been seeking legal advice on the affair.