Transcript
Parliament is convening Wednesday when Vanuatu's government is seeking to pass the Political Parties Registration Act.
Part of a bid to stop frequent changes of government, this would make parties subject to a legal framework.
But passing constitutional amendments requires a two-thirds majority in parliament - something the government has so far struggled to do.
Opposition leader Ishmael Kalsakau says he doubts the government will muster the numbers because it hasn't consulted broadly.
"They come up with these ideas but they want to shove it down everyone's throats, instead of trying to get people to understand why there is good intention surrounding this sort of legislation, and getting the numbers to support it.
Mr Kalsakau says the government has never properly consulted with the opposition on these reforms
"We've got a fragmented group (in parliament). If you can;t build trust among members of parliament, then you've never got the numbers to deal with questions of integrity."
Mr Salwai denies that there hasn't been broad consultation, saying the Constitutional Review Committee has gained a wide range of views on proposed reforms.
It was clear early on in his tenure that some of the planned reforms were not universally popular - government has already dropped a proposed constitutional amendment to create reserved parliamentary seats for women.
But the present parliament has no women MPs and only five have won seats since Vanuatu gained independence 39 years ago.
Mr Salwai says a key step towards better representation of women would be passing the Political Parties Registration Act
I think what is important now is to allow in the constitution, especially article 4, to allow parliament to legislate on political parties. And by having legislation on political parties maybe we can address issues of gender.
Mr Kalsakau recently has filed a criminal complaint against Mr Salwai for alleged perjury and bribery.
The move came shortly after an Appeal Court ruled against government establishment of Parliamentary Secretaries, declaring them 'void and of no effect'.
Mr Kalsakau accused the prime minister of false statements in relation to cabinet endorsment for recruiting the controversial Secretary positions
"And I've got charges of bribery against the prime minister for trying to bribe members of parliament with positions of parliament secretary just to try and get them back on side with the government when they had signed motions of no confidence against him.
against it."
Mr Salwai says he won't comment directly on the case, but insists the secretary positions filled a neccessary public service role required by government even before he came to power.
"I think they did a good job, so there was a reason to create this posiiton. Not only for this government, but the past government as well, because the position started back in 2013."
Meanwhile, the government last week succeeded in electing a new Speaker, Simeon Seule from Mr Salwai's Reunification of Movements for Change party
Mr Seule replaced Esmon Saimon of the Vanua'aku Pati which is now in the opposition.
He says he will act in a neutral capacity as speaker, should another of the frequent motions of no confidence against Mr Salwai come across his desk.
"I'm not sure that there will be anything like that, the government is very strong now. we have 31 members in the government or 29 (out of 52 MPs in total). And I think they also want to maintain their position until the end of the term."
Vanuatu is due to go its next general election around March next year. If Charlot Salwai survives in power until then he would be just the second prime minister to last a full term in power since the mid-1990s.
