Leaders of the defected ministers and government backbenchers have defended their decision to leave GNUT (Government for National Unity and Transformation) – accusing Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Jeremiah Manele of weak leadership.
Former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, who was until Monday was the Minister of Finance and Treasury and his GNUT colleague and minister of infrastructure development Manasseh Maelaga appeared before the press Wednesday to explain their decision to defect from the government.
Both attributed to Manele’s weak leadership style for not acting on concerns they had raised to him during their one year in government.
Ten government ministers and backbenchers resigned from the government on Monday and are now joining forces with the Opposition and the Independent.
Sogavare said the political development is allowed to reach the current state because of indecisiveness and weak leadership.
“It should not have reached this stage if the prime minister had acted decisively and in the national interest,” said Sogavare.
He admitted to the press that the GNUT government started its journey on a very, very shaky ground right from the very beginning and surprisingly it did not bother the leadership of the government.
“I think they had the assumption that the things will iron itself out. And that’s not how you deal with issues like that,” said the Sogavare.
Sogavare added the prime minister plays a very pivotal role in the progress of the government— he ensures that issues that threaten the smooth functioning of government are addressed quickly and timely.
“If ministers are to be removed in the national interest, do it. He did not see that. Instead, he protected them,” said the former minister of finance.
Sogavare pointed to the former Deputy Prime Minister Bradley Tovosia as an example.
He said every arrow and concerns were pointed to the DPM to the PM on many occasions by various members of the coalition, including himself but no actions were taken.
Sogvare said as the leader of the collation they expected him to take leadership and address the issue.
“We expected him to run the government as the PM, we didn’t see that too especially when it is called for in leadership, he basically lost that too,” said the former PM.
Maelanga in support said any leadership must be strong “then we can move policy that we want to move.”
“With weak leadership we can’t achieve anything,” he said.
On their decision to leave, Sogavare said it was not an easy one.
“So, it was not an easy decision to make for us to leave the government. But we did because of love to see our country progress with a sense of purpose. This is clearly missing in the government current led by the prime minister,” said Sogavare.
He reclaimed the formation of GNTU, saying: “We started the process with conflicts of interest. It was a very fragile coalition –early signs of instability were carelessly ignored.
Both Sogavare and Manele have called for public to remain calm and allow the democratic process to take its course.
