Solomon Islands general election, 2010

Solomon Islands general election, 2010

4 August 2010
All 50 seats to the National Parliament
First party Second party Third party   Leader Steve Abana Manasseh Sogavare Danny Philip Party Democratic Party OUR Party Reformed Democratic Party Last election 5 seats new party new party Seats won 13 3 3 Seat change +8 +3 +3
Prime Minister before election Derek Sikua Liberal Party Subsequent Prime Minister Danny Philip Reformed Democratic Party

A general election was held in Solomon Islands on 4 August 2010. In May 2010, Prime Minister Derek Sikua announced that the election would be held on 4 August, however, this announcement was deemed to be premature, as only the Governor General has the authority to announce the election date upon the advice of the Electoral Commission. In the end, this date was used, however.

Candidates

There were a total of 509 candidates, including 25 women.

Election

On 11 August 2009, lobbying was reported in progress, as several political groups jockeyed to form a coalition government. No candidates for the Solomon Islands leadership post of Prime Minister had yet been announced however it appears that three main camps have formed.

The first camp is built around the outgoing government led by Derek Sikua. One of its spokespeople, Matthew Wale, claimed on 13 August that the group has the support of five parties and 30 MPs including the Democratic Party (SIDP, 14 MPs), the National Party (or Nasnol Pati, 3 MPs), the Party for Rural Advancement (SIPRA, 3 MPs), the Liberal Party (2 MPs), the People's Congress Party (PCP, 2 MPs), and six independents. This camp is based at the Heritage Hotel.

A second camp is based around three parties: the Ownership, Unity and Reconciliation (OUR, 4 seats) party, which is led by a former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare; the Direct Development Party (DDP, 2 MPs), which is led by former Director of the Solomon Islands College of Higher Education (SICHE); and the Reform and Democratic Party (RDP, 2 seats), which is led by a former Deputy Prime Minister Danny Philip. This camp is based at the Pacific Casino Hotel.

A third camp is led by the newly established Independent Democratic Party (IDP), led by Snyder Rini and is based at Honiara Hotel. The IDP's party secretary Leonard Kaitu'u explained that the IDP was the successor to a previous party, the Association of Independent Members. Kaitu'u has suggested that their camp will also get support from the People's Alliance Party (PAP) and the Solomon Islands Party for Rural Advancement (SIPRA). However, it is not clear whether the PAP won any seats in the new parliament and it is possible that SIPRA will decide to join with the Heritage Hotel camp. A spokesman for the group denied that cash incentives were being used to secure members for the coalition.

Results

The event was overseen by international election observers connected with the United Nations International Election Observation Coordination Team. The elections were described as peaceful, although strong concerns were expressed about voter registration irregularities.

25 incumbents were returned and 25 were replaced (including three seats where the incumbent chose not to recontest and one seat that was vacant due to the death of Edward Huni'ehu). Of the 50 MPs, most are relatively inexperienced: 45 have served less than two terms in office. The five long-serving MPs are Job Dudley Tausinga (entering his 7th consecutive term), Danny Philip (5th term), Snyder Rini (4th term), Manasseh Sogavare (4th term) and Gordon Darcy Lilo (3rd term).

Constituency	Member	Party
Choiseul Province
South Choiseul	Elijah Doro Muala	SINP/SIPRA?
North West Choiseul	Connelly Sadakabatu	SIDP
East Choiseul	Manasseh Sogavare*	OUR
Western Province
Shortlands	Steve Laore	Ind.
North Vella La Vella	Milner Tozaka*	Ind.
South Vella La Vella	Lionel Alex	Ind.
Rannogga/Simbo	Charles Sigoto	RDP
Gizo/Kolombangara	Gordon Darcy Lilo*	SIPRA
West New Georgia - Vona Vona	Silas Tausinga	SIPRA
North New Georgia	Job Dudley Tausinga*	SIPRA
South New Georgia R&T	Danny Philip*	RDP
Marovo	Snyder Rini*	IDP
Isabel Province
Hograno/Kia/Havulei	Selwyn Riumana*	Ind.
Maringe/Kokota	Varian Lomanei*	IDP
Gao/Bugotu	Samuel Manetoali*	RUPP
Malaita Province
North Malaita	Jimmy Lusibaea	Ind.
Lau Mbaelalea	Walter Folotalu*	SIDP
Baegu/Asifola	Toswell Kaua*	Ind.
Fataleka	Steve Abana*	SIDP
West Kwara'ae	Shemuel Sam Iduri*	SIDP
Central Kwara'ae	Fiulaua Jackson	Ind.
East Malaita	Manasseh Maelanga*	SIDP
Aoke/Langalanga	Matthew Wale*	SIDP
East Kwaio	Stanley Festus Sofu*	SIDP
West Kwaio	Peter Tom*	SIDP
East Are Are	Andrew Hanaria	Ind.
West Are Are	John Maneniaru	Ind.
Small Malaita	Rick Houenipwela	SIDP
Malaita Outer Islands	Martin Kialoe	SIDP
Central Province
Ngella	Mark Kemakeza*	Ind.
Russells and Savo	Dickson Mua Panakitasi	OUR
Rennell and Bellona
Rennell-Bellona	Seth Gukuna*	PCP
Guadalcanal Province
North West Guadalcanal	Horst Heinz Bodo Dettke	Ind.
West Guadalcanal	Moses Garu	SIDP
South Guadalcanal	David Dei Pacha*	SIDP
East Guadalcanal	Bradley Tovosia	Ind.
East Central Guadalcanal	Joseph Onika	OUR
North East Guadalcanal	Derek Sikua*	SILP
North Guadalcanal	Martin Sopaghe*	Ind.
Central Guadalcanal	Peter Shanel	OUR
Honiara City
East Honiara	Douglas Ete	DDP/RDP
Central Honiara	John Moffat Fugui	DDP
West Honiara	Namson Tran	Ind.
Makira Province
West Makira	Dick Ha'amori	DDP
Central Makira	Hypolite Taremae	Ind.
East Makira	Alfred Ghiro	SIDP
Ulawa/Ugi	James Tora*	SIDP
Temotu Province
Temotu Pele	Martin Magga*	Ind.
Temotu Nende	Cummins Mewa	Ind.
Temotu Vatud	Clay Forau Soalaoi*	PFP

OUR = Ownership, Unity and Responsibility (OUR) Party, SIDP = SI Democratic Party, RDP = Reform Democratic Party, SIPRA = SI Party for Rural Advancement, SINP = SI National Party, DDP = Direct Development Party, RUPP = Rural and Urban Development Party, IDP = Independent Democratic Party, SILP = SI Liberal Party, PCP = People's Congress Party, PFP = People's Federation Party, Ind. = independent (or affiliation unknown)

*Note that returning MPs are marked with an asterisk (*) and that party affiliations are based on the affiliations recorded by the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission (SIEC) and as reported in various news reports. In some cases, MPs have been assigned dual party affiliations where the available reporting is unclear.

Prime Minister

Danny Philip was narrowly elected the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands on 24 August 2010, with 26 votes compared with 23 for his rival, the SIDP's Steve Abana.

In a victory speech following the Prime Ministerial election, Philip stated that his first priority would be to form a new government. He said his government would actively support the country's Constitutional Reform process. This had been one of his central campaign pledges, and the reason why he had formed the Reform Democratic Party.

Upon naming his Cabinet, he appointed Manasseh Maelanga as his deputy.

External links

• List of candidates – Solomon Times