Daniel Suidani, a prominent Solomon Islands critic of China who was former Malaita Province premier, yesterday was re-elected to the provincial assembly, as counting continued in the key Pacific island nation’s election.
The elections are the first since Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare struck a security pact with China in 2022 and drew the Pacific island nation closer to Beijing, in moves that concerned the US and Australia because of the potential impact on regional security.
Results in national and provincial elections held in the Solomon Islands on Wednesday are being announced over several days, closely watched by China, the US and Australia.
Photo: AFP
Suidani, whose new political party U4C also ran candidates in the national election, was re-elected to the Malaita Provincial Assembly, he confirmed to Reuters.
As premier he had banned Chinese companies from Malaita, the Solomon Islands’ most populous province, and accepted US development aid before being ousted last year in a no-confidence vote by lawmakers for his refusal to recognize China.
China sent its top envoy for the South Pacific to Malaita Province this month to sign a memorandum of understanding with Malaita Premier Martin Fini.
Fini lost his seat in the provincial assembly, electoral officials said yesterday, which means he would no longer be eligible to be premier.
Suidani said his win, the ousting of the pro-China Fini by voters and the election of several new lawmakers to the provincial assembly in Malaita showed that voters wanted to see a change of government.
“It’s a joy for all Malaitians who believe in democracy,” he said in a telephone interview, but added that counting was still under way and that the final numbers in the provincial assembly were unknown.
“From my point of view, what Malaita is doing at the moment, they are trying to rescue the province from bad leadership, corruption,” he said.
Johnson Osiramoa, who beat Fini as an independent candidate, yesterday said that he would join the U4C party, Suidani said.
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