Solomon Islands to get new leader after Jeremiah Manele voted out as prime minister

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele has been voted out of office after a no-confidence motion on his leadership, and a fiery debate in parliament that saw accusations of corruption and bribery.

26 MPs of the 50-seat parliament sided against him, triggering the end of his two-year reign. The new government bloc is yet to identify a new leader, with a vote expected sometime next week. However, long-term opposition leader Matthew Wale has been flagged as one likely candidate, as has former foreign minister Peter Shanel Agovaka, who abandoned Mr Manele’s government to help vote him out.

Manele, a soft-spoken former diplomat who took over as leader from the China-friendly firebrand Manasseh Sogavare, has led a largely stable government for the bulk of his term, devoid of any major controversies in the usually drama-filled atmosphere of Solomon Islands politics. He maintained the status quo in Solomon Islands’ close relationship with China, albeit with less bombast than Sogavare, and had a generally courteous relationship with Canberra, despite regular disagreements centred on the country’s diplomatic alignment with Beijing. His political downfall came after a handful of government MPs in March abandoned the prime minister en masse, citing a range of domestic grievances, loosely defined as allegations of corruption and “weak and indecisive leadership”, that many political watchers instead saw as a simple power grab.

Agovaka listed off a range of issues that he said led him to move on the prime minister, accusing unnamed government ministers of corruption and bribery. “There are certain things that aren’t right, like tax exemptions where ministers give their cronies to help them with their business,” he said. “We know certain ministers have asked [for] funds for projects from the Ministry of Agriculture to the tune of [$100,000].”

Although no civil unrest was expected, almost 1,000 police officers, about two-thirds of the country’s total police force, were patrolling the streets of the capital, Honiara, as past motions of no-confidence have triggered rioting and unrest. The large police presence is expected to continue next week when the new government selects its new leader.