Vanua’aku Party, UMP may win fewer seats
MELBOURNE, Australia (Radio Australia, Nov. 1, 2012) – Unofficial results from Vanuatu's national election suggest there could be as many as 18 parties represented in the new parliament.
Counting is continuing across the country after Tuesday's poll.
The outgoing Parliament had 15 parties, with some having split from others during their term.
However that number is likely to increase again with the new parliament.
Early results showed that two of the oldest parties in Vanuatu - the Vanua'aku Party and the UMP, which itself began life as the Union of Moderate Parties - could end up with only nine and seven MPs respectively.
Vanua'aku Party leader, Edward Natapei, says that "money changed hands" on the last few days of campaigning.
"We had assurances from a lot of our supporters in the communities but in the end the outcome was not very good," he said.
[PIR editor’s note: Meanwhile,...