There will be 49 international observers: Vanuatu’s snap election will be closely watched by Australia, the US and Japan due to close ties with China. There are 219 candidates competing for 52 seats. The dissolution of Parliament was approved by the Supreme Court as the government tried to prevent its own downfall.
Port Vila ( / Agencies) – Early elections will be held tomorrow in the Vanuatu archipelago. The Supreme Court confirmed last month that the dissolution of parliament two years early was a legal maneuver by the government to avoid a vote of no confidence. About 220 candidates will compete for 52 seats.
In June, Opposition Leader Ralph Regenvanu accused Prime Minister Bob Loughman of wanting to make “dangerous changes” to the Constitution to extend his term from four to five years.
Vanuatu is made up of 80 atolls and has a population of 300,000. It is the Pacific country with the closest ties to China, to the point that the country’s only newspaper also publishes the news in Chinese on-line. On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the China Daily noted, among other things, that “China has never spared efforts to provide aid to Vanuatu without any political constraints. Indeed, the aid has favored the development of Vanuatu, has improved the living conditions of the population and received praise from all social sectors”. Beijing also built the Parliament building, a sports field, a congress center and various infrastructures for “the promotion of agricultural and tourism development.”
In July 2021, more than 30 representatives from five political parties participated in a virtual summit of the Communist Party of China, and China’s foreign minister visited Port Vila in June to announce strengthening economic ties between the two countries. When US President Joe Biden organized a summit to counter Chinese influence in the region, Vanuatu was unable to send any political leaders because it already had a caretaker government. In his place, the ambassador to the United States attended.
Among the 49 international observers who arrived in the archipelago today to monitor the electoral process are Australian, Chinese and Japanese officials. Tomorrow’s vote will be broadcast live on the radio to continue a practice of transparency that was inaugurated with the 2020 elections during the pandemic, when international observers were banned from entering.
Australia – which had expressed concern about the increased Chinese presence in the area after the announcement of security agreements between China and the neighboring Solomon Islands – has sent funding and means of transport to Vanuatu to assist in the distribution of electoral ballots. in the atolls.
