Last month 14 Vanuatu MPs were convicted of bribery and corruption and sentenced to imprisonment, robbing the government of its majority. But rather than accept this and resign, Prime Minister Sato Kilman initially tried to cling to power, refusing to call Parliament to allow a confidence vote. Now, vanuatu's President has ended the farce by dissolving Parliament and calling a snap election:
Vanuatu's president has dissolved the country's parliament in an attempt to resolve an impasse after the conviction of 14 government MPs for bribery.
The 14 MPs lost their appeals against both their convictions and jail sentences last week, forcing them to vacate their parliamentary seats.
The convictions meant the opposition, led by Ham Lini, controlled two-thirds of the remaining seats.
President Baldwin Lonsdale today called a snap election and dissolved the parliament, citing the inability of the prime minister and opposition to form a government of national unity.
And hopefully that's the end of it. A new Parliament can be elected, hopefully of people untainted by corruption, and Vanuatu can finally move on.
