The pro-Chinese candidate Jeremiah Manele has been elected prime minister of the Solomon Islands. In the secret ballot in Parliament, the former diplomat won 31 votes out of 50, beating his rival Mathew Wale, who had instead promised a loosening of ties with Beijing. “The people have spoken,” said Manele, rejoicing that the vote took place without violence: “Today we showed the world that we are better than this.” In the Solomon Islands, an island nation in Oceania with around 720 thousand inhabitants, elections are in fact often accompanied by riots.
In 2000, Prime Minister Bart Ulufa’alu was forced to resign after being kidnapped by armed men, and in 2006 an international contingent was deployed to prevent riots. Manele was foreign minister in 2019, when the Solomon Islands moved away from Taiwan and established diplomatic ties with Beijing. Analysts expect Manele to continue the policy of rapprochement with China started by his predecessor Manasseh Sogavare, who did not stand for re-election, with the security agreement signed with the Dragon in 2022.
The details of this agreement remain unclear but the US and Australia fear that the pact has laid the foundation stone for the construction of a permanent Chinese military base in the South Pacific. The prime minister-elect promised “a government of national unity” that will focus on reviving the economy and making “progress on the road to recovery” from the Covid-19 pandemic. A reform of the value added tax and the creation of a special economic zone are among the priorities announced by the new government.