Page 10 - IB May 2024

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands

Jeremiah Manele (left) takes over from Manasseh Sogavare (right) as Solomon Islands PM. Photo: In-depth Solomons

CHANGE IN DIRECTION, OR JUST

SMOOTHER SAILING?

By Georgina Maka’a went unusually smoothly – thanks to the heavy presence of
police officers from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Papua
It was perhaps the most watched and closely observed New Guinea.
elections to have taken place within the Pacific region in the Although faced by a real challenger this time, Sogavare
last decade. managed to secure his East Choiseul seat for his seventh
As voters in Solomon Islands went to the polls on 17 April consecutive term in parliament – though he won by just 259
2024, the world’s two superpowers—the United States and votes, his narrowest victory margin since he was first elected
China, plus their allies—watched with much anxiety. to parliament in 1997.
At the center of attention was Manasseh Sogavare – His re-election made local and international headlines,
the outgoing Solomon Islands Prime Minister who made and kept diplomats, academics, researchers, and observers
international headlines when he switched his country’s guessing.
diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China in 2019. Was he back to lead the country for another four years? If
That decision rattled Western leaders and generated a sea so, would he continue to push Solomon Islands into the arms
of geopolitical rivalry between China and the United States of China from its traditional donor partners?
and its allies.
A follow-up security agreement that Sogavare’s government Manele takes the helm
signed with China later in 2022 took the rivalry to a level As winning MPs made their way into Honiara to start the
never seen or experienced before in the Pacific. government-formation process, tensions associated with
And so many observers viewed the Solomons elections, Sogavare’s likely return to the helm grew.
which should have taken place in early 2023 but delayed for Fears of another riot were high. Local police, with the
seven months by Sogavare, as a battle between the US, and backing of their regional counterparts, were on full alert.
China. With no outright winner, political parties headed into
serious horse-trading to form the next government.
Smooth polling day Sogavare’s Ownership, Unity and Responsibility (OUR) Party
Although tensions were high on the ground, polling day won 15 seats, but that fell far short of the 26 needed to lead

10 Islands Business, May 2024