The prime minister of Vanuatu has lost his seat after a motion of no confidence. Edward Natapei was ousted after the vote, passed at 30 votes to 15, took place in parliament. Natapei was out of the country at the time of the vote, attending a climate change summit in Cancun, Mexico.
The vote took place after several members of parliament became unhappy with Natapei's decisions. He had tried to suspend five members of parliament from the house. There was also concern about his support for Frank Bainimarama, the military leader of Fiji. Natapei supported Bainimarama when he took over as leader of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, the trade group of the South Pacific.
This is not the first time that Natapei has lost his seat. In 2009, he lost his post when he failed to notify parliament that he left the country. He was on an official visit to Trinidad and Tobago at the time. Natapei took the post of prime minister in 2008. Sato Kilman, the deputy prime minister until the motion was passed, has been sworn in as Natapei's replacement.

Have an opinion on this story? Share it!
Share this: 






This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Prime Minister of Vanuatu ousted in vote of no confidence