Vanuatu - October 2023

Charlot Salwai was elected prime minister of Vanuatu on 6 October, making him the third prime minister in the last month. Salwai was the sole candidate before parliament following a show of hands no-confidence vote in which his predecessor Sato Kilman was ousted. Kilman had done the same to his predecessor Ishmael Kalsakau in a similar procedure on 4 September. The current government holds only a slim majority over the opposition, and defections and the removal of MPs for procedural reasons have played a role in the repeated removal of prime ministers over minor policy disagreements.

Sources: Radio New Zealand (1), ABC Australia, Radio New Zealand (2)