POLITICIANS pardoning friends who have done wrong are nothing new. It is rare, however, that a politician will attempt to pardon himself. In early October, the president of Vanuatu, Baldwin Lonsdale, travelled abroad and the speaker of the nation’s parliament, Marcellino Pipite, automatically became acting head of state. Mr Pipite took the opportunity to pardon himself and 13 other MPs who had been convicted, though not sentenced, on charges of bribery.
On his return, a furious Mr Lonsdale rescinded the pardons. As a result, the 14 MPs, including two former prime ministers, were sent to prison on October 22nd. This is the first time that sitting MPs have been successfully prosecuted for graft.
The country’s politics are now plunged into uncertainty. Those imprisoned amount to half of the government’s MPs. Parliament now needs to sit to pass a budget for 2016, but the prime minister, Sato Kilman, is reluctant to assemble the legislators because he has lost his majority, and fears a no-confidence challenge. The opposition has called on him to do the honourable thing and step down, but Mr Kilman contests whether the court’s ruling...Continue reading
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