Vanuatu parliament to elect new prime minister after court appeal dismissed

Vanuatu's parliament will elect a new prime minister after the Pacific Island nation's court on Monday dismissed an appeal against a decision to remove Ishmael Kalsakau from the role.

Vanuatu's parliament will elect a new prime minister after the Pacific Island nation's court on Monday dismissed an appeal against a decision to remove Ishmael Kalsakau from the role. Kalsakau's government won international attention this year for its successful push to get the United Nations General Assembly to ask the world's top court to define the obligations of states to combat climate change.

Vanuatu has also been at the centre of a strategic rivalry between China and Western countries in the region. It was plunged into political crisis last month when opposition leader Bob Loughman lodged a no-confidence petition criticising Kalsakau for actions including signing a security pact with Australia. The Supreme Court found a vote of no-confidence in Kalsakau had been won by opposition parties, but the court had stayed action to remove Kalsakau until an appeal by the parliament's speaker was heard.

The appeal was dismissed on Monday, a government spokesman said in a statement on social media. Parliament will resume to elect a new prime minister. Loughman, who drew Vanuatu closer to China as the previous prime minister, has said the security pact with Australia compromised Vanuatu's "neutral" status and could jeopardise development assistance from China, its biggest external creditor.

The United States and its allies are seeking to dissuade Pacific Islands nations from establishing security ties with China, after it signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands. China has sent police experts to Vanuatu amid the political crisis, and the Vanuatu police force said it would work with "all partners" - Australia, New Zealand and China.

Kalsakau's government sought to widen Vanuatu's international ties after winning a general election in November. Chairman of the Saudi Fund for Development and Saudi Arabia's Minister for Tourism, Ahmed al Khateeb, met Kalsakau on Saturday in Vanuatu, signing an airport redevelopment deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron visited in July, making a speech where he pledged greater support and warned against a "new imperialism" in the Pacific, comments taken to refer to China. Vanuatu's largest creditor is China's EXIM bank, accounting for a third of debt, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Kalsakau signed a security agreement with Australia in December, a month after being elected, although it is yet to be ratified by parliament. Australia had provided cyber security support to Vanuatu when the new government was locked out of computer systems by a hacker attack. During a visit by Australia's Defence Minister Richard Marles in June, Kalsakau acknowledged a social media backlash against the deal and opposition by some politicians who favoured ties with China.

Australia and China sent navy ships carrying relief supplies when two cyclones hit in a week in March.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)