Politicians in the Marshall Islands will spend the next month jostling to form a coalition after last month's election brought significant change to the country's parliament.
The results, published on Friday, have caused a big upset for the government of president Christopher Loeak, with half his cabinet voted out of their seats.
The Capitol Building in Majuro, the capitol of Marshall Islands Photo: RNZI
Among them is the prominent foreign minister, Tony de Brum, as well as the health minister, the speaker and vice-speaker of parliament, as well as several other government-aligned incumbents.
Our correspondent, Giff Johnson, says parliament meets on the first Monday of January, and the opposition-aligned MPs will be looking to form a coalition government and nominate a presidential candidate.
He says the government, despite its reduced numbers, will be doing the same.
"They're going to be looking at how they can work with the results and even though it looks like the government is now in a minority, certainly they're going to be doing their politicking and horse trading to see if they can come up with a majority."
