Paperwork blunder leaves Vanuatu leader without a job

The Prime Minister of the tiny Pacific nation of Vanuatu has been left red-faced and jobless because he forgot to hand in an absence note before heading to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Trinidad and Tobago last week.

Prime Minister Edward Natapei lost his seat after failing to notify the speaker of the house that he could not attend parliament, even though he was out of the country on official business.

He had fallen foul of the regulation that members of parliament will forfeit their seat if they miss three consecutive sittings of parliament without notifying the speaker of the reason for their absence.

"It was a standing order," an official at the speaker's office said. "If you miss three consecutive meetings, your seat will be declared vacant."

To retain his seat, Mr Natapei needed only to hand in a signed explanation for his absence.

The now ex-Prime Minister was rushing back from the summit this weekend, while his Cabinet hastily convened for emergency talks.

The island nation will have a caretaker Government until the parliament elects a prime minister next week.

Derek Brien of the think-tank, the Pacific Institute of Public Policy, described the blunder as "flabbergasting" and a "massive oversight" by the Prime Minister's office.

"It's truly unbelievable something as basic as that could have been overlooked," Mr Brien said. "It's flabbergasting. I truly am shocked this has happened."

"It's a massive oversight by the Prime Minister's people," he said. "All they had to do was give notice he's away on official business."

Mr Natapei, a career politician, will hold the unenviable record of being the shortest serving prime minister in Vanuatu's history, having been in the post for only 14 months. President of the socialist, Anglophone Vanua'aku Pati party, he was elected Prime Minister in September 2008.

However it was his second time in the job, having first served as Prime Minister from 2001-04.

The last time an MP lost his seat for the same reason was in the 1980s. Despite a legal appeal, he was not allowed back into Parliament.