SYDNEY (Reuters) – Vanuatu’s President Nikenike Vurobaravu has been asked to dissolve parliament amid a political crisis in the Pacific Island nation, national broadcaster VBTC and the Vanuatu Daily Post newspaper reported on Friday.
Vanuatu’s Council of Ministers decided on Friday to request the dissolution of parliament by the nation’s president, after a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Charlot Salwai was lodged in parliament on Tuesday by a majority of lawmakers, VBTC reported in news bulletins. The Vanuatu Daily Post cited the Prime Minister’s Office.
The Vanuatu Prime Minister’s Office could not be reached for comment.
Salwai is Vanuatu’s third prime minister since August, when Ishmael Kalsakau was unseated by a vote in parliament after eight months in the role.
If the president dissolves parliament, a national election will be held.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
