The motion was introduced on the last sitting day of the year Tuesday, disrupting what was expected to be a long session of debate and voting to pass bills before the closing deadline for the parliament.
Tomeing’s majority has been slim since his January election, when he ousted previous President Kessai Note by an 18-15 vote through the country’s first-ever coalition government. Opposition members contend government party members will vote with them to form a new government, while the government party claims the opposition does not have the numbers.
The parliament is now in recess until early next week. A vote on the motion must be held within a five-to-10 day period after a confidence motion is introduced, according to the constitution. The opposition needs at least 17 votes to force a change in government.
Opposition member Sen. John Silk introduced the motion and was joined by most members of the opposition. Silk, a cabinet member in the Note administration from 2000-2007, is being put forward as the opposition’s candidate for president.
The opposition said the no-confidence motion was brought because of government’s lack of timely support for a U.S. Senate bill that would have provided $4 million per year for health care services for nuclear test affected islanders for the next 15 years, deteriorating relations with the United States, which is the country’s largest aid donor, and refusal to move forward on a previously approved and funded new elementary school project for the capital city of Majuro.
