GOVERNMENT
The Solomon Islands is a parliamentary democracy within the Commonwealth, with a unicameral Parliament and a ministerial system of government. The British monarch is represented by a governor general, chosen by the Parliament for a 5-year term. The national Parliament has 50 members, elected for 4-year terms. However, Parliament may be dissolved by 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 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.
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 town of Honiara, administered
by the Honiara Town Council.
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 the Solomon Islands. The law provides that resident expatriates, such as the Chinese and Kiribati, may obtain citizenship through naturalization. Land generally is still 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 the Solomon Islands, although the police force 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. A new acting commissioner, Walter Kola (a Solomon Islands citizen), was appointed in March 2007. The Solomon Islands Government declared the prior commissioner, Shane Castles (an Australian citizen), an undesirable immigrant in December 2006.
POLITICAL
CONDITIONS
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 a shift in parliamentary loyalties brought Solomon Mamaloni back to power. The national election of August 6, 1997 resulted in Bartholomew Ulufa'alu's election as Prime Minister, heading a coalition government, which christened itself the Solomon Islands Alliance for Change.
However,
governance was slipping as the performance of the police and other
government agencies deteriorated due to ethnic rivalries. The
capital of Honiara on Guadalcanal was increasingly populated by
migrants from the island of Malaita. In June 2002, an insurrection
mounted by militants from the island of Malaita resulted in the
brief detention of Ulufa’alu and his subsequent forced resignation.
Manasseh Sogavare, leader of the People's Progressive Party, was
chosen Prime Minister by a loose coalition of parties. Guadalcanal
militants retaliated and sought to drive Malaitan settlers from
Guadalcanal, resulting in the closure of a large oil-palm estate
and gold mine which were vital to exports but whose workforce
was largely Malaitan.
New elections in December 2001 brought Sir Allan Kemakeza into the Prime Minister's chair with the support of a coalition of parties. 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. With the country bankrupt and the capital in chaos, the request was unanimously supported in Parliament.
The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI), a multinational police-centered force organized by Australia, arrived in the country in 2003 at the government's invitation to assist in restoring law and order and rebuilding the country's institutions. The peace proved to be fragile, and fierce rioting occurred soon after the April 2006 general election and the election of Snyder Rini as Prime Minister in mid-April. Most of the violence was directed against businesses owned by ethnic Chinese in Honiara, with the almost complete destruction of the Chinatown commercial district. Mr. Rini resigned shortly after the riots, and a parliamentary vote saw Manasseh Sogavare elected as the new Prime Minister in May 2006. The civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces.
Relations between RAMSI and the Sogavare government were increasingly strained after the controversial July 2007 appointment of Julian Moti, wanted by Australia on child sex offense charges, as attorney general. On December 13, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's coalition government lost a parliamentary vote of no confidence, and on December 20, Parliament elected Derek Sikua as Prime Minister. In December 2007 the Sikua government dismissed Moti and deported him to Australia. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's visit to the Solomon Islands in March 2008 began a new era of bilateral relations.
Principal
Government Officials
Governor General--Sir Nathaniel Waena
Prime Minister--Derek Sikua
Minister for Foreign Affairs--William Haomae
Ambassador to the U.S. and UN--Colin Beck
The
Solomon Islands mission to the United Nations is located at 800
Second Avenue, Suite 400L, New York, NY 10017 (tel: 212-599-6192/93;
fax: 212-661-8925).
Government
Type: Parliamentary democracy within the Commonwealth.
Constitution: May 1978.
Independence: July 7,1978.
Branches: Executive--British monarch represented
by a governor general (head of state); prime minister (head of
government). Legislative--50-member Parliament elected
every 4 years. Judicial--high court plus magistrates court;
system of custom land courts throughout islands.
Subdivisions: Nine provinces and Honiara town.
Political parties: United Party, People's Alliance
Party, National Front for Progress, SAS Party, Liberal Party.
Suffrage: Universal over 18.
National holiday: July 7.
Flag: Rectangle divided diagonally by a thin
yellow line from bottom of staff to opposite top; the lower part
is forest green; the upper, ocean blue containing five stars for
the major island groups.
