Bob Loughman, an MP from the island of Tanna, will become the next prime minister of the South Pacific nation.
Vanuatu’s parliament has elected a new prime minister more than a month after the country went to the polls, as the country is reeling from a devastating category-five cyclone and preparing for a potential coronavirus outbreak.
Bob Loughman, an MP from the island of Tanna, will become the next prime minister of the south Pacific nation, after defeating the former foreign minister Ralph Regenvanu in a vote in parliament on Monday, by 31 votes to 21.
Loughman is the leader of the Vanua’aku Pati – one of the oldest political parties in Vanuatu – which secured seven out of 52 seats in elections held on 19 March.
Elections are held every four years in Vanuatu and it is extremely rare for a party to win a majority of seats, meaning that governments formed in the country are almost always a coalition of parties.
Please click here to read the full “Vanuatu elects new prime minister as country reels from devastating cyclone” article published at The Guardian, written by Griffith Asia Institute researcher, Dr Tess Newton Cain
