Vanuatu will hold snap elections next month after a court ruled that the President’s contentious decision to dissolve parliament two years early was legal.
The country’s Supreme Court upheld the abrupt dissolution of parliament in early August, which critics say was engineered by Prime Minister Bob Loughman to avoid a vote of no confidence that he may have lost.
Chief Justice Vincent Lunabeck dismissed a case brought by the opposition, who argued that the dissolution of parliament by President Nikenike Vurobaravu was based on unconstitutional and unlawful advice from Mr Loughman’s cabinet.
The decision means the country is heading towards the polls, with a date already set for a general election on October 13 — two years earlier than expected.