The South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu has found itself in political chaos following an extraordinary few days in which 14 politicians were found guilty of corruption but were then pardoned by one of their own while the president was abroad.

The events have created a constitutional crisis for President Baldwin Lonsdale, who promised he would find a legal avenue to “clean up the mess.”

“Vanuatu's credibility has been tarnished throughout the world, and as head of state, I am deeply sorry to see this,” Lonsdale told reporters on Monday, according to the Vanuatu Daily Post.

On Friday, the Supreme Court found Parliament speaker Marcellino Pipite and 13 other lawmakers guilty of bribery. A judge said many had accepted bribes of 1 million vatu ($9,000) to help overthrow the previous government.

Tiny Pacific Vanuatu cleans up after devastating Cyclone Pam

But the next day, Pipite signed a pardon for himself and the others. Because the president was away, Pipite was the acting head of state.

He told the Australian Broadcasting Corp he signed the pardons out of concern for the nation's interests rather than his own.

“I decided to make such orders to maintain the peace, unity, in this country,” he said.

But the move has angered many people in Vanuatu, who had turned out in large numbers to hear the Supreme Court verdicts. Many hoped the verdicts would mark an end to the corruption which has plagued the country's political system.

“People are sick to death of the ongoing changes in government and the corruption issues,” said Kiery Manassah, a former government public relations officer.

He said there were rumors there would be a legal challenge to the pardons Tuesday but nothing had eventuated. The men were due to be sentenced next week, he said, but for now it remained unclear whether that would proceed.

“At the moment, it's very, very confusing,” he said.

Cyclone Pam hits Vanuatu island Show all 6 1 /6 Cyclone Pam hits Vanuatu island Cyclone Pam hits Vanuatu island Cyclone Pam People walking along a seaside with waves splashing on land on Vanuatu island, South Pacific region EPA Cyclone Pam hits Vanuatu island Cyclone Pam Cyclone Pam hits Vanuatu EPA Cyclone Pam hits Vanuatu island Cyclone Pam People on a dock view yachts damaged in Port Vila, Vanuatu, Saturday, March 14, in the aftermath of Pam AP Cyclone Pam hits Vanuatu island Cyclone Pam People walk along the shore where debris is scattered in Port Vila, Vanuatu on Saturday AP Cyclone Pam hits Vanuatu island Cyclone Pam People scour through debris damaged and flung around in Port Vila, Vanuatu on Saturday AP Cyclone Pam hits Vanuatu island Cyclone Pam A satellite image of the cyclone NOAA

Vanuatu is continuing to recover from Cyclone Pam, which struck the archipelago in March. The cyclone killed at least 11 people and affected 180,000 by destroying homes and crops. The country has a population of 275,000.