The drama has unfolded during a visit to the region by Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully.
McCully has been looking at how nearly $100 million in aid to Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands is being spent.
The people in Vanuatu have had two decades of political instability—but it is reaching new heights with the third leadership change in six months and another likely soon.
McCully said political instability is a reality of the Pacific.
“It wouldn’t be too hard to get depressed some days when you look at the pace of change politically within the region,” he said.
“But I think you’ve just got to take a glass half full approach to that and say we are dealing with people not governments of the day.”
While holding top level talks with New Zealand, Vanuatu Prime Minister Sato Kilman knew his leadership was in jeopardy.
A Supreme Court ruling found Kilman had been illegally selected as prime minister.
Just six months ago the police and the Vanuatu mobile force were called to guard Parliament and all the journalists were thrown out when the Prime Minister Edward Natapei was ousted.
According to Vanuatu’s Constitution a no confidence vote needs to be carried out by a confidential ballot – however in Natapei’s case it was done by a show of hands.
As a result, the court ruled Natapei should still be in power and Kilman should not.
Mark Neil Jones from the Vanuatu Daily Post said politicians do not like being challenged.
“Minister was fuming hanging over me, suddenly I was grabbed by someone, my head rammed on the desk, hair pulled out by the handful three or four handfuls of hair,” he said.
“Then they turned me whacked my head against the wall and tried to strangle me.”
And political instability is not isolated to Vanuatu.
McCully decided to cancel the Papua New Guinea leg of his trip after his counterpart was suddenly sacked.
A property belonging to the acting PNG prime minister is currently the scene of a murder investigation after a dead woman was found there.
