Vanuatu replaces pro-West PM Kalsakau, with Sato Kilman who wants closer Beijing ties, amid China-US rivalry in Pacific

Kilman, a former prime minister and leader of the People’s Progressive Party, was elected prime minister by 27 of 50 lawmakers in a secret ballot.

A Vanuatu court on Monday dismissed an appeal against a ruling that the no-confidence motion had been won by the opposition parties.

A police commissioner before entering politics, Kilman served as deputy prime minister in Kalsakau’s government until May, when he was removed from cabinet.

He has previously served two stints as prime minister, in 2012 and in 2015 for eight months.

As prime minister, Kilman expelled 12 Australian Federal Police from Vanuatu in 2012, after he was stopped while transiting through an Australian airport and his adviser was arrested by Australian police on tax fraud charges.

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Police cooperation between the two nations resumed in 2013 after Kilman lost office.

Kalsakau’s government had sought to widen Vanuatu’s international ties after winning a general election in November.

Kalsakau signed a security agreement with major aid donor Australia in December, a month after being elected, although it is yet to be ratified by parliament.

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Australia and China sent navy ships carrying relief supplies when two cyclones hit in a week in March.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse