Vanuatu’s parliament yesterday elected Sato Kilman as the nation’s new prime minister after a court upheld a vote of no-confidence in his predecessor, who had sought closer ties with US allies amid China-US rivalry in the Pacific Islands.
Kilman, a former prime minister and leader of the People’s Progressive Party, was elected prime minister 27/23 in a secret ballot by lawmakers.
He told parliament he would review foreign policy so that it benefitted Vanuatu more, and would seek new export markets.
Photo: Reuters
Vanuatu was plunged into political crisis last month when opposition parties lodged a no-confidence petition criticizing then-prime minister Ishmael Kalsakau for actions including signing a security pact with Australia.
Opposition lawmakers said the security pact with Canberra compromised Vanuatu’s “neutral” status and could jeopardize development assistance from China, its biggest external creditor.
The US and its allies are seeking to dissuade Pacific island-nations from establishing security ties with China, after it signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands.
A Vanuatu court yesterday dismissed an appeal against a ruling that the no-confidence motion had been won by the opposition parties.
A police commissioner before entering politics, Kilman served as deputy prime minister in Kalsakau’s government until May, when he was removed from Cabinet.
He has previously served four stints as prime minister.
As prime minister, Kilman expelled 12 Australian Federal Police from Vanuatu in 2012, after he was stopped while transiting through an Australian airport and his adviser was arrested by Australian police on tax fraud charges.
Police cooperation between the two nations resumed in 2013 after Kilman lost office.
In June 2015 as leader, he traveled to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), pledging closer ties between the two nations.
Kalsakau’s government had sought to widen Vanuatu’s international ties after winning a general election in November.
Kalsakau signed a security agreement with major aid donor Australia in December, a month after being elected, although it is yet to be ratified by parliament.
Ahmed al Khateeb, chairman of the Saudi Fund for Development and Saudi Arabia’s tourism minister, 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.
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.
Australia and China sent navy ships carrying relief supplies when two cyclones hit in a week in March.
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