Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Vanuatu court will rule today on Kilman contesting 2012 election

Posted at 00:08 on 08 February, 2013 UTC

Vanuatu’s Supreme Court will rule this morning on the eligibility of Prime Minister Sato Kilman to contest the recent election

Port Vila MP, Willie Jimmy filed a petition against Mr Kilman claiming he did not clear his alleged outstanding debt of about 120,000 US dollars in government rent before he contested the October 2012 general election.

The law is clear that all candidates must settle all outstanding debts with the Government before they can be allowed to contest a political election.

Willie Jimmy says he is confident of a favourable ruling to his petition saying even a legal representative of the Attorney General’s Office, admitted to Justice Robert Spears that Mr Kilman had a case to answer in court.