Government Briefs

Vanuatu

Vanuatu Finance Minister Sela Molisa resigned from the Cabinet, saying he wanted to ease the political pressure on Prime Minister Edward Natapei. Natapei subsequently reshuffled his cabinet-for the third time in three months. Jerry Niklam was named the new Finance Minister. Vanuatu's Parliament also voted for a new president, a former speaker Alfred Maseng. Maseng replaces Father John Bani. The government's candidate Kalkot Mataskelekele polled second.

-SM

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court has ruled the election of Sir Pato Kakaraya as Governor-General null and void, and ordered Parliament to elect a new person to the position. Losing candidate Sir Albert Kipalan challenged the Parliament's December 2003 election of Sir Pato. Kipalan claims the Speaker and Clerk accepted defective nomination forms after the close of nominations. The decision means Papua New Guinea's parliament will have to be recalled. On January 21, the Government adjourned parliament until June 29 in a move the Ombudsman had called "unconstitutional."

-SM

Fiji

Former Fiji Police Commissioner Isikia Savua may not be recalled from his post as Fiji's Representative to the United Nations to answer questions on his alleged involvement in the plot to overthrow the government in 2000. Police public relations officer Mesake Koroi says this would be a last resort, and that it would be up to the government to decide whether to recall Savua. In February this year, Fiji Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes commissioned a task force to reopen investigations into police involvement in the coup.

-SM

Federated States of Micronesia

The 3rd FSM Economic Summit concluded in early April after a week of meetings, discussions and reports from the more than 400 participants from each of the four states of Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae, as well as from the United States. The sometimes-tense summit laid out a road map for development for the next 20 years, the life of Compact II.

-OW

Samoa

The Mel Gibson movie, Passion of Christ, was finally released in late March to be shown in the country after it was checked by Samoa's leading clergy. Chairman of the Censors Board, Masinalupe Soa Tusipa, said on state run television that there's no concern about appropriateness for Christians to view the film now that chairman of the National Council of Churches, Rev. Oka Fauolo, secretary Rev. Fepai Kolia and Archbishop Alapati Mataeliga had reviewed it. The movie arrived in the country in early March and the Censors Board warned theaters and video stores not to sell the video or screen it publicly until it had been reviewed.

-FS

American Samoa

The U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) is considering awarding capital improvement project (CIP) funds to its territories based on their fiscal management record. "Under the proposal, American Samoa would in each of the next six years, receive a baseline allocation of $10 million for CIP funds," DOI deputy assistant secretary David B. Cohen says. "The amount actually received by the Territory, however, could be as much as $12 million or as little as $8 million, depending on how well its general fiscal management practices, past use of CIP funds and project selections are rated."

-FS

Taiwan

Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian won a fiercely contested presidential election on March 20, a day after an apparent assassination attempt. The only challenger, Lien Chan of the Kuomintang, refused to concede defeat after losing by fewer than 30,000 out of more than 13 million votes cast. Lien claimed that Chen had staged the assassination attempt to gain a sympathy vote and to enact an emergency mechanism that he says prevented 200,000 security personnel from voting. Chen and the police and Ministry of National Defense have denied the claims, which were backed by little evidence. Nevertheless, the Kuomintang ended a week of protests outside the Presidential Office with a demonstration of around 350,000 people. The dispute looks set to drag on in the courts for several months, although Chen is in a strong position to fend off the legal challenge. Two referendum questions that drew international criticism before the election failed because fewer than half the registered voters cast their ballots.

-GN

Guam

After months of lobbying by Guam's business community, the Guam Legislature unanimously passed a bill to return the island's gross receipts tax to 4 percent effective April 1. The tax had been increased to 6 percent shortly after Governor Felix Camacho took office in January 2003 in order to address a severe cash shortfall. Though Camacho supported the new bill and signed it into law, he warned that the rollback would reduce revenue by $30 million during the final five months of the fiscal year. Reducing the tax "without adjusting the spending authorizations and priorities of this government will put us right back where we came from just a short year ago," he says.

-FW

Contributors: Samantha Magick, Olivier Wortel, Fili Sagapolutele, Graham Norris, and Frank Whitman.