Three Vanuatu Government members defect to opposition

Vanuatu's Minister of Education Alfred Carlot is among at least three government MPs who have defected to the opposition benches.

The Opposition has been rallying support for a vote of no confidence in the Sato Kilman-led administration amid a political crisis triggered by last weekend's of 14 convicted MPs.

The opposition MP Ralph Regenvanu has confirmed Carlot, Don Ken and Isaac Hamariliu have crossed the floor.

He says a ruling on the motion is still to come from the Speaker Marcellino Pipite who pardoned himself and the other 13 convicted MPs last weekend.

“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.”

Regenvau, a member of the opposition in Vanuatu says mysterious one million vatu payments from the government have been made to all of the country's MPs.

The opposition is concerned the payments of almost US$9,000 per MP, which are labelled 'Tropical Cyclone Pam Refund', are unlawful.

Ralph Regenvanu says a deposit was made into his private account on  29 September and he discovered the payment when he saw his latest bank statement.

He says a parliamentary finance official has confirmed the payment was made to all 52 MPs.

“Maybe there's been a decision and maybe they intend to pass a supplementary budget later to justify or to make it lawful but otherwise we're very concerned that it may be an unlawful payment. So we're asking the Prime Minister to clarify it as soon as possible.”

Regenvanu says the opposition wants clarification in light of last week's conviction of 14 MPs for corruption.

Meanwhile, the office of Vanuatu's Attorney General says it provided no advice about last weekend's pardoning of 14 MPs convicted in a bribery case.

The acting Attorney General, Angelyne Dovo, made the statement five days after the acting president, Marcellino Pipite, gazetted the decision.

She says her office played no active role in the gazetting of the instrument.

Dovo and her staff explained that is normal practice for the president, the prime minister and many government agencies and offices to consult with the state law office on matters of law.

She says there is no legal requirement to do so, nor is it a requirement that they follow the advice of the Attorney General if they do consult.

Pipite said last Sunday during the gazetting of the instrument of the pardoning, that he had been advised by five lawyers.    

Caption: MP Ralph Regenvanu, Photo: WikiCommons / Marke Lowen
Source:
PACNEWS