Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Vanuatu Lib Dem leader takes PM to court over debt

Posted at 18:49 on 09 November, 2012 UTC

The leader of Vanuatu’s Liberal Democratic Party, Willie Jimmy, is taking the caretaker prime minister Sato Kilman to the Supreme Court over what he says remains an outstanding debt of about 140,000 US dollars.

In October, the debt prompted the Electoral Commission to exclude Mr Kilman from the list of election candidates, along with 70 others with outstanding debts.

It was a move that resulted in the suspension of the Principal Electoral Officer shortly before last week’s general election, despite the Commission’s announcement that the debt had been cleared.

Mr Jimmy doesn’t believe it has been paid.

“Because I have the document from the department of finance and info that says 13 million vatu is still outstanding. We have given the Electoral Office seven days to respond, he didn’t respond so we will actually be seeking court to make a clarification on that issue.”

Willie Jimmy says Sato Kilman has either misled the Electoral Commission or pressured it to reinstate him without making him clear the debt.