The convicted MPs include former Prime Ministers Serge Vohor and Moana Carcasses Kalosil.
[3] Over time the linguistic divide has diminished as Vanuatu established a stronger national identity post-independence.
Coalitions often struggle to find a common legislative agenda to lead the nation which can be a cause of political instability.
The successful conviction of 14 MPs, including two former prime ministers, for bribery was one of the largest steps taken to combat corruption.
The Supreme Court found that while in the opposition in 2014, former prime minister Moana Carcasses Kalosil bribed parliamentarians with 35 million vatu (US$300,000) to support a no-confidence motion.
As several of the convicted parliamentarians were members of the Cabinet of Vanuatu, Prime Minister Sato Kilman was unable to effectively rule.
Kilman was not able to form a new government - nearly 1/3 of MPs were in jail - which led to governmental gridlock causing the Parliament to be dissolved by the president.
The details are verified twice with the citizen then given an envelope with a sheet with the name, picture and political party symbol on a piece of paper.
In the voting booth, the voter identifies their preferred candidate, rips off the corresponding piece of paper and puts it into the envelope.
Each candidate's number of votes were tallied and sent to the independently run Vanuatu Electoral Commission who announced the winners for each parliamentary seat.
By asking experts on Vanuatuan politics to rank the integrity of various electoral issues, the group found that the election was generally fair and just.
The races were extremely tight – in the constituency of Paama, MP Fred William Tasso won his seat by seven votes.
The opposition did not oppose this motion and Salwai was elected Prime Minister of Vanuatu by parliamentary vote.
Uri Warawara of the Land and Justice Party defeated Bani Livo, an independent candidate.
Caused by the death of incumbent MP Jerry Kanas (elected as an independent before joining Leaders Party of Vanuatu).