WELLINGTON: The Vanuatu political landscape appeared to be in for a shakeup, reports said Saturday, following a snap election called after more than a quarter of MPs were jailed in a corruption scandal.
Unofficial results from Friday's vote indicated a number of long-serving politicians, including former justice minister Robert Bohn and former parliamentary speaker Philip Boedoro, were set to lose their seats, according to news media reports.
The official results may not be available until early next week after all ballots from outlying islands have been taken to the capital Port Vila for counting, Vanuatu Daily Post journalist Jonas Cullwick told AFP.
Writing in the Post, Cullwick said newcomers "make up most of the provisional results" he had received.
Fourteen MPs from the 52-seat parliament, including the deputy prime minister, were jailed last year in a corruption scandal which put the international spotlight on the integrity of Vanuatu lawmakers.
The political breakdown in Port Vila follows a period of instability with four changes of prime ministers in the past four years.
The election won praise from a Commonwealth Observer Group for being conducted in a "peaceful and orderly environment" but was criticised for using an electoral roll that had not been updated for more than six months.
It excluded the names of people who had reached the voting age of 18 since then but retained the names of those who had died.
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