Vanuatu's Reunification Movement of Change party has maintained its stance not to support the government's plans for constitutional amendments when parliament meets tomorrow.
The government wants to push through at least 15 amendments to the constitution but it would need two thirds of the MPs to back it.
The RMC party is led by former prime minister Charlot Salwai and is part of the government coalition but it refused to back the changes last week and will do so again this Friday.
Photo: Hilaire Bule/ Vanuatu Government
Mr Salwai said any amendment of the constitution must come from a Constitutional Review Committee, and the civil society must be consulted.
He also expressed his surprise that the current Prime Minister Bob Loughman and his deputy, Ishmael Kalsakau, had opposed constitutional amendment proposed during his term as prime minister, yet now they are all for it.
Mr Salwai said "you cannot just pull a paper from a rubbish bin and bring it to Parliament for approval, because you are dealing with Vanuatu's Constitution," Salwai said.
Lawyers speak out
Members of the Vanuatu legal profession have raised concern on proposals to limit the term of the chief Justice to 5 years.
This is one of a series of the controversial constitutional reforms the government is trying to push through.
The group of lawyers bought advertising space in the Daily Post newspaper to point out the flaws in the government's approach.
They said the notion of the separation of powers between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary is fundamental to Vanuatu's constitution.
For the judiciary, they said the separation underpins the notion of judicial independence.
The group also said that respect for the rule of law in Vanuatu, and the role the independent judiciary plays in that, is widely recognised and applauded both inside and outside of Vanuatu.
They said the prosecution of ministers for bribery can only happen in a country that has a totally uncorrupted and independent judiciary and prosecution service.
The lawyers said independence of thought and judgment in the judiciary is guaranteed by security of tenure that cannot be compromised by outside interference and threat of removal.
But they point out that when a judge's decision making is seen in the context "of an approaching termination or renewal of contract, that independent thinking can be compromised but, perhaps more importantly, the public perception that it may be, is unavoidable."
The constitution provides that security of tenure, but the lawyers said the stability that has "created could and, in our view, would, be very much destabilized by imposing a limited term on the Chief Justice's standing."
