Vanuatu swears in new prime minister after snap election

Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau , the deputy prime minister in the previous government, leads a 30-member coalition involving five parties

Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau Credit: UN Women Pacific/Twitter

Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau was sworn in as prime minister of the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu on Friday, selected unopposed by lawmakers in a new parliament following a snap national election.

Kalsakau, the deputy prime minister in the previous government, leads a 30-member coalition involving five parties.

Vanuatu was not due to go to the polls until 2024, but held a snap election after parliament was dissolved by the president in August, to avoid an attempt to oust then prime minister, Bob Loughman.

A group of government lawmakers had sided with the opposition in a bid to remove him.

After being sworn into office on Friday, Kalsakau said he acknowledged his predecessor's stewardship of the nation through the uncertainty of the COVID-19 crisis, supply disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine, and the decrease of national revenue caused when the European Union cancelled its visa waiver agreement with Vanuatu.

The Pacific island nation has generated significant revenue from selling citizenship to foreign nationals, but the European Union partially suspend its visa waiver agreement in March, citing the risks posed by Vanuatu's investor citizenship schemes or "golden passport" schemes.

Kalsakau said the economy had started to stabilise and cruise ships would soon return, boosting tourism.

Gloria King was elected as Vanuatu's first female member of parliament since 2008.

The Pacific has become a focus of intensifying geopolitical contest between China and the United States and its allies this year, with China seeking to increase its security and trade presence.