Politics of Solomon Islands takes place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic, constitutional monarchy. Solomon Islands is an independent Commonwealth realm, where executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and a multi-party parliament.
The head of state, the King or Queen of Solomon Islands, is represented by the Governor-General. The head of government is the Prime Minister. Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
The King of Solomon Islands is represented in Solomon Islands by a governor general who acts on the advice of the prime minister and the cabinet. The Governor-General of Solomon Islands is elected by parliament.
Solomon Islands governments are characterized by weak political parties and highly unstable parliamentary coalitions. They are subject to frequent votes of no confidence, and government leadership changes frequently as a result. Cabinet changes are common.
The Prime Minister, elected by Parliament, chooses the other members of the cabinet. Each ministry is headed by a cabinet member, who is assisted by a permanent secretary, a career public servant, who directs the staff of the ministry. The cabinet consists of the Prime Minister and ministers of executive departments. They answer politically to the House of Assembly.
As described in the Constitution of Solomon Islands (1978), the Attorney General is appointed by the Judicial and Legal Service Commission and acts as the principal legal adviser to the Government. The Attorney General of Solomon Islands may serve in an advisory capacity to the parliament, but does not possess any voting rights. [1]
Name | Term |
---|---|
Francis Lenton Daly [2] [3] | c. 1979-1980 |
Frank Kabui [4] (1st Solomon Islander male) | c. 1980-1994 |
Primo Afeau [5] [6] [7] [8] | c. 1995-2006 |
Julian Moti [9] | c. 2006-2007 |
Nuatali Tongarutu (Acting) [10] | c. 2006-2007 |
Gabriel Suri [11] [12] (Acting; Permanent) | c. 2008-2010 |
Billy Titulu [12] [13] | c. 2010-2015 |
James Apaniai [14] | c. 2015-2018 |
Gilbert John Osmond Muria [15] | c. 2018-2021 |
Clezy Rore [16] | c. 2021- |
The Solicitor General of Solomon Islands is the law officer that is below the Attorney General of Solomon Islands.
Name | Term |
---|---|
Ranjit Hewagama [17] | c. 1998-2001 |
Nathan Moshinsky [18] | c. 2003-2006 |
Reginald Teutao [19] [20] | c. 2007-2010 |
Savenaca Banuve [21] [22] | c. 2011- |
The National Parliament has 50 members, elected for a four-year term in single-seat constituencies. Solomon Islands have a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone. Political parties must work with each other to form coalition governments.
Parliament may be dissolved by a majority vote of its members before the completion of its term. Parliamentary representation is based on single-member constituencies. Suffrage is universal for citizens over age 18.
The Governor General appoints the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The Governor General appoints the other justices with the advice of a judicial commission.
Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Solomon Islands Democratic Party | 42,245 | 13.64 | 8 | New | |
Solomon Islands United Party | 32,302 | 10.43 | 2 | New | |
Kadere Party of Solomon Islands | 29,426 | 9.50 | 8 | +7 | |
United Democratic Party | 25,295 | 8.17 | 4 | –1 | |
Democratic Alliance Party | 19,720 | 6.37 | 3 | –4 | |
People's Alliance Party | 18,573 | 6.00 | 2 | –1 | |
People First Party | 11,419 | 3.69 | 1 | 0 | |
Solomon Islands Party for Rural Advancement | 9,878 | 3.19 | 1 | 0 | |
National Transformation Party | 4,622 | 1.49 | 0 | 0 | |
Pan Melanesian Congress Party | 1,514 | 0.49 | 0 | 0 | |
Green Party Solomon Islands | 619 | 0.20 | 0 | New | |
New Nation Party | 593 | 0.19 | 0 | 0 | |
Peoples Progressive Party | 381 | 0.12 | 0 | 0 | |
Independents | 113,178 | 36.54 | 21 | –11 | |
Total | 309,765 | 100.00 | 50 | 0 | |
Valid votes | 309,765 | 99.71 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 902 | 0.29 | |||
Total votes | 310,667 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 359,523 | 86.41 | |||
Source: Solomon Islands Election Resources |
For local government, the country is divided into 10 administrative areas, of which nine are provinces administered by elected provincial assemblies, and the 10th is the city of Honiara, administered by the Honiara City Council.
Solomon Islands governments are characterized by weak political parties and highly unstable parliamentary coalitions. They are subject to frequent votes of no confidence, and government leadership changes frequently as a result. Cabinet changes are common.
The first post-independence government was elected in August 1980. Prime Minister Peter Kenilorea was head of government until September 1981, when he was succeeded by Solomon Mamaloni as the result of a realignment within the parliamentary coalitions. Following the November 1984 elections, Kenilorea was again elected Prime Minister, to be replaced in 1986 by his former deputy Ezekiel Alebua following shifts within the parliamentary coalitions. The next election, held in early 1989, returned Solomon Mamaloni as Prime Minister. Francis Billy Hilly was elected Prime Minister following the national elections in June 1993, and headed the government until November 1994 when four Cabinet Ministers were allegedly bribed by a foreign logging company to shift their parliamentary loyalties and bring Solomon Mamaloni back to power. [23] [24]
The national election of 6 August 1997 resulted in Bartholomew Ulufa'alu's election as Prime Minister, heading a coalition government, which christened itself the Solomon Islands Alliance for Change. In June 2000, an insurrection mounted by militants from the island of Malaita resulted in the brief detention of Ulufa’alu and his subsequent forced resignation. Prior to this Ulufa'alu had requested Australian intervention to stabilise the deteriorating situation in Solomon Islands, which was refused. Manasseh Sogavare, leader of the People's Progressive Party, was chosen Prime Minister by a loose coalition of parties. New elections in December 2001 brought Sir Allan Kemakeza into the Prime Minister's chair with the support of a coalition of parties. Bartholomew Ulufa’alu was Leader of the Opposition.
Kemakeza attempted to address the deteriorating law and order situation in the country, but the prevailing atmosphere of lawlessness, widespread extortion, and ineffective police prompted a formal request by the Solomon Islands Government for outside help. In July 2003, Australian and Pacific Island police and troops arrived in the Solomon Islands under the auspices of the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI). The mission, consisting of a policing effort, military support, and a large development component, largely restored law and order to Honiara and the other provinces of Solomon Islands. Efforts are now underway to identify a donor base and reestablish credible systems of governance and financial management.
In the 2006 legislative election Kemakeza's People's Alliance Party suffered a major defeat, losing more than half its seats. However Deputy Prime Minister Synder Rini succeeded in gaining the support of enough Independent Members of Parliament to form government. This resulted in rioting in the capital of Honiara. Much of the violence was directed at Chinese businessmen who were accused of influencing the election result. Reinforcements to RAMSI stabilised the situation, but not before serious damage was done to the nation's already fragile economy. Rini resigned shortly before a motion of no confidence was due to take place, and was succeeded by Manasseh Sogavare, a former Prime Minister.
The inability of RAMSI to oversee a peaceful election has raised serious doubts about the success of the mission.
Land ownership is reserved for Solomon Islanders. At the time of independence, citizenship was granted to all persons whose parents are or were both British protected persons and members of a group, tribe, or line indigenous to Solomon Islands. The law provides that resident expatriates, such as the Chinese and Kiribati, may obtain citizenship through naturalization.
Land generally is held on a family or village basis and may be handed down from mother or father according to local custom. The islanders are reluctant to provide land for nontraditional economic undertakings, and this has resulted in continual disputes over land ownership.
No military forces are maintained by Solomon Islands, although the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIP) of nearly 500 includes a border protection element. The police also have responsibility for fire service, disaster relief, and maritime surveillance. The police force is headed by a commissioner, appointed by the Governor General and responsible to the prime minister.
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in the Melanesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. This page is about the history of the nation state rather than the broader geographical area of the Solomon Islands archipelago, which covers both Solomon Islands and Bougainville Island, a province of Papua New Guinea. For the history of the archipelago not covered here refer to the former administration of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, the North Solomon Islands and the History of Bougainville.
Solomon Islands is a country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, to the northeast of Australia. It is directly adjacent to Papua New Guinea to the northwest, Australia to the southwest, New Caledonia and Vanuatu to the southeast, Fiji, Wallis and Futuna and Tuvalu to the east, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia to the north. It has a land area of 29,000 square kilometres (11,000 sq mi), and a population of approximately 700,000. Its capital, Honiara, is located on the largest island, Guadalcanal. The country takes its name from the wider area of the Solomon Islands (archipelago), which is a collection of Melanesian islands that also includes the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, but excludes the Santa Cruz Islands.
Allan Kemakeza was the seventh Prime Minister of Solomon Islands from 2001 to 2006. He represented Savo/Russel Constituency in the National Parliament of Solomon Islands from 1989 to 2010 and was most recently Minister of Forestry December 2007 to August 2010. He served as Speaker of the National Parliament, from September 2010 to 2014.
Sir Peter Kenilorea was a Solomon Islander politician, officially styled The Rt Hon. Sir Peter Kenilorea as a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. He was the first Prime Minister of an independent Solomon Islands, from 1978–1981, and also served a second term from 1984–1986.
The People's Alliance Party (PAP) is a political party in the Solomon Islands.
Manasseh Damukana Sogavare is the sixth and current Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, serving since 24 April 2019. He previously held the office in 2000–2001, 2006—2007 and 2014–2017; in all he has served over nine years as prime minister. Before becoming prime minister, Sogavare served in the National Parliament representing East Choiseul since 1997.
Bartholomew (Bart) Ulufa'alu was the fifth Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands from 27 August 1997 to 30 June 2000.
John Patteson Oti, sometimes called Patterson Oti, is a Solomon Islands politician and diplomat. He was Minister for Foreign Affairs, External Trade and Immigration from May 2006 to 22 December 2007. He is the secretary general of the Ownership, Unity and Responsibility Party, which was launched in early 2010. Since March 2012, he has been his country's High Commissioner to Fiji.
Edward Huni'ehu was a Solomon Islands politician.
East Honiara is a parliamentary constituency electing one representative to the National Parliament of Solomon Islands. With an electorate of 30,049 in 2006, it is by far the most heavily populated constituency in the country, being the only one to consist in more than 20,000 voters. It is one of three parliamentary constituencies in the country's capital city, Honiara - the other two being Central Honiara and West Honiara.
Hilda Thugea Kari is a Solomon Islands politician, the first woman to be elected to the National Parliament of Solomon Islands.
Andrew Nori was a Solomon Islands lawyer and politician, arguably best known for his role in the ethnic conflict on Guadalcanal in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Joses Tuhanuku is a Solomon Islands politician and former trade union leader. He served three terms in Parliament before losing his seat in the 2006 general election.
General elections were held in the Solomon Islands on 6 August 1980. They were the first since independence has been achieved two years earlier. The Solomon Islands United Party led by Prime Minister Peter Kenilorea emerged as the largest party, winning 16 of the 38 seats. Following the elections, Kenilorea was re-elected Prime Minister.
Charles Dausabea was a Solomon Islands politician.
General elections were held in the Solomon Islands between 22 May and 12 June 1973. The following year, Solomon Mamaloni of the People's Progressive Party became the first Chief Minister.
The Independent Group (IG) is a political faction in the Solomon Islands comprising the independent members of the Solomon Islands Parliament.
General elections were held in Solomon Islands on 3 April 2019 to determine the composition of the 11th Parliament. The election was the first to occur since the conclusion of the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) in 2017. Parliament passed amendments to the electoral act in 2018 that included the introduction of pre-polling, a significant increase in campaign budgets for candidates and stricter penalties for individuals committing electoral offences such as vote-buying. Ten of the thirteen parties that contested the election won seats, and the Solomon Islands Democratic Party and the Kadere Party were the parties that secured the highest amount, winning eight each. However, as in previous elections, independent candidates won the largest share of seats, securing 21.
The Ministry of Finance and Treasury is a government ministry of the Solomon Islands responsible for public finances. The ministry is located in Honiara.