PORT VILA: Vanuatu’s top court said on Wednesday that it will decide whether the prime minister’s recent decision to dissolve parliament was legal, wading into a charged dispute that has plunged the usually calm Pacific nation into political crisis.
The country’s Supreme Court approved an opposition plea to rule on the dissolution, which critics say was engineered by Prime Minister Bob Loughman to avoid a vote of no confidence.
Chief Justice Vincent Lunabek ruled there was a case to be heard and set the date for September 2.
If the court upholds the dissolution, the country will be forced to hold an election in the next 60 days -- two years earlier than expected.
A group of 27 lawmakers, including 17 from the ruling party, had asked the court to rule on the dissolution.
Opposition leader Ralph Regenvanu said Loughman’s cabinet did not have the legal authority to ask the president to dissolve parliament.
In June, Vanuatu announced agreements with China -- following Loughman’s meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the capital Port Vila -- that deepened economic ties.
Pacific nations have come under intense scrutiny amid high China-US tensions, with Beijing seeking to increase its security and trade presence in the region. - AFP
