THE Prime Minister of Vanuatu, Charlot Salwai has been presented the report of the Melanesian Spearhead Group Observer Mission to the Vanuatu snap election.
The report was presented to him by the MSG Chair, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare when they met in Port Vila on Thursday.
The meeting is part of meeting schedules for the MSG Chair during his 13-day tour of MSG capitals.
Further to the report presentation, the meeting touched on the MSG Secretariat’s poor financial situation wrought on by the non- payment of financial obligations to the institution by MSG countries.
The two leaders acknowledged the importance of MSG countries paying up their outstanding dues and their voluntary contributions to put the secretariat into a sound position to implement its programmes.
They agreed that special treatment is given to FLNKS of New Caledonia, which was unable to pay up its contributions since 2008.
They noted the difficulty faced by FLNKS as one of the political groups within the congress of New Caledonia and as such its commitment to fulfill its financial obligations to the MSG Secretariat depends on the government of the day.
The two Prime Ministers further noted that it would not be right for the MSG to relinquish the FLNKS from its membership of the MSG just for the non-payment of its dues because MSG was established for the purpose of pushing for the decolonization of Melanesians in New Caledonia.
They agreed that the dues of FLNKS should be shared amongst the MSG countries for payment.
The MSG Chair decided not to discuss bilateral issues between Solomon Islands and Vanuatu as he initially planned, knowing that Prime Minister Salwai’s government just came into office and would require time to settle in before any bilateral meetings can be pursued.
Meanwhile, the MSG Chair and his seven-member entourage travelled on to Noumea New Caledonia last Friday to visit the FLNKS headquarters.
