Keystone-SDA
Voters in Vanuatu are voting on Thursday for early legislative elections, a new episode of recurring political instability in this Pacific country which is barely recovering from a deadly earthquake.
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January 16, 2025 – 04:15
(Keystone-ATS) A 7.3 magnitude earthquake shook Vanuatu on December 17, destroying roads, collapsing buildings in Port Vila, the capital, and killing at least 14 people.
“Instability will not help Vanuatu right now, especially after this earthquake. The entire nation was affected by the earthquake,” Port Vila candidate Mike Esrom Kaun told AFP.
For decades, Vanuatu has been plagued by political instability. The country changed Prime Ministers 20 times between 1991 and 2017 and again had three heads of government in one month in 2023.
This time, Parliament, divided into several groups requiring the formation of a coalition, was dissolved in November when deputies planned to launch a motion of censure to overthrow Prime Minister Charlot Salwai.
Some fear that this ongoing instability will distract from natural disasters, the faltering economy and the threat of the consequences of global warming.
Vanuatu, which has some 320,000 inhabitants, is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where earthquakes are frequent. It is ranked among the countries most vulnerable to natural disasters such as earthquakes, storm damage, floods and tsunamis, according to the annual Global Risks Report
“Elections are really still a distraction from development priorities,” insists Riley Duke, a Pacific expert at the Lowy Institute think tank in Australia.
“Vanuatu is a developing country facing enormous challenges. Key indicators, such as income, health and education, have declined in recent years,” he told AFP.
Polling stations will close at 4:30 p.m. local time (6:30 a.m. in Switzerland).
