Concerns of common Solomon Islanders are more urgent than international diplomatic disputes.
By a vote in Parliament, former foreign minister Jeremiah Manele defeated Matthew Wale, the leader of the opposition, to become the new prime minister of the Solomon Islands.
For the Ownership, Unity and Responsibility (OUR) Party of former prime minister Manasseh Sogavare, the outcome is mixed. At the election held last month, the party took only 15 of the 50 seats. But because Sogavare chose not to run for prime minister this week, his party retained a majority in the ballot thanks to its courting of independent members.
How then will Manele lead? Will he fundamentally alter the nation or its ties to China, Australia, and the US?
Concerns with quality of life are still crucial.
We have seen a dramatic shift in the staging of campaigns ten years later. Social media livestreaming of campaign events this year was commonplace, amplifying and sensationalising the themes of the contenders like never before. There were often frantic parades with floats and hordes of supporters.
The terrible quality of services in the country was the main worry of common Solomon Islanders, notwithstanding all the hoopla around election day. Power outages are frequent, the infrastructure and roads are in bad shape, and the healthcare system is run-down.
The rising expense of living combined with the dearth of educational and employment options has only made life more challenging for the locals.
As we conducted our research, for instance, a voter in Isabel Province informed us that he did not care which political party his chosen candidate belonged to. His principal worry was whether his MP would keep using the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to support him financially. The money covers chainsaws, school fees, outboard motor engines for transportation, iron roofs for houses, and other material expenses.
Like them, a lot of voters wanted their representatives to become part of the majority coalition so they could take advantage of additional government perks. This is the reason nine of the independent MPs who defeated governing coalition incumbents returned to the coalition ahead of this week’s PM election.
Lawmakers gave Manele 31 votes, including 15 from his OUR Party, three from the Solomon Islands People First Party, one from the Kadere Party, nine independents, and three more MPs who broke with Wale.
Making Manele their candidate was a wise choice for Sogavare and his coalition.
The popularity of sogavare has fluctuated within the last 20 years. Votes for no confidence in 2007 and 2017 drove him out of the PM position. In 2021, after he had survived another no-confidence vote, Honiara saw bloody demonstrations and Chinatown was destroyed.
In the election held earlier this month, Sogavare was victorious by a margin of just 259 votes. Since his 1997 first election to Parliament, it was his closest margin of victory.
It made logical sense for his alliance to choose a different candidate in order to prevent a similar reaction from voters who did not want to see Sogavare become PM again.
The governor-general, Sir David Vunagi, and 55-year-old Manele are related by birth; they are both from the same hamlet, Samasodu, in Isabel Province.
Manele will probably be a welcoming boss. His maiden speech, in which he thanked his coalition members and competitor Wale, demonstrated his kind and modest nature.
A more realistic foreign strategy
Sogavare drew criticism in part because of his growing cozy ties with Beijing, which began in 2019 when his government moved the Solomon Islands’ official allegiance from Taiwan to China.
Australia became alarmed when he inked a covert bilateral security agreement with China in 2022. An other agreement to increase law enforcement and other security cooperation with China was signed last year.
With Manele in charge, diplomatic relations with China ought to resume more as usual. Without the flaming rhetoric his predecessor had become renowned for, his expertise as a professional diplomat, public servant, opposition leader, and foreign minister will enable him negotiate the nation’s complicated ties.
With a former foreign minister in charge, we might also be able to learn what the 2022 security pact actually includes at last.
Manele said in the affirmative when asked by the ABC if his administration will stick to the agreement, then went on to say:
Should such review be necessary, China and the Solomon Islands will have to talk about it.
Still, he might come under some criticism from the opposition. Solomon Islands United Party (SIUP) political wing head Peter Kenilorea Jr. has openly declared his intention to renounce the security pact with China.
Manele ought to keep up a friendly and maybe more involved relationship with Australia as well. He reaffirmed his commitment to upholding the Solomon Islands’ long-standing foreign policy position of “friends to all and enemies to none” when he declared his PM candidacy this week.