Members of the Vanuatu Council of Chiefs are calling for the Public Service Commission to review its decision to give the position of the Council's Chief Executive Officer to a woman.
Two executive members, Chief Issac Worwor, and Chief Jimmy Meameadola, say a woman will not be able to perform some custom ceremonies as required under the National Council of Chiefs Act.
The chiefs say it has nothing to do with gender, but the law is clear that when the CEO carries out the chairman's duties in his absence, it has to be a paramount chief who is a man and not a woman.
They insist that the majority of the chiefs in the country are males, and it has always been that way throughout generations.
The Vanuatu Council of Women refused to comment.
