Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Delays expected in formation of new Vanuatu government

Posted at 07:18 on 31 October, 2012 UTC

Final results from Vanuatu’s general election may be days away as the Electoral Commission experiences delays in receiving vote counts from across the country.

While unofficial results are known in over half of the 52 seats, Johnny Blades reports that the formation of a new government may take weeks.

“Vote counts are still pending from a number of remote polling stations around the country, which could affect the outcome of certain seats. This includes several stations in the large Santo rural constituency where heavy rain before and on election day caused rivers to flood, blocking off access to polling. In some instances ballot boxes hadn’t made it to the stations by Tuesday and therefore people there were yet to vote. It’s expected the voting will be complete in these parts over the next couple of days. Meanwhile, with results in a number of seats in other parts confirmed, several parties have emerged with a handful of MPs. But no one grouping is clearly dominant, meaning the coming days and weeks are likely to see intense lobbying between these parties to form a coalition government, and independent members could play a pivotal role.”