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No-confidence vote on PM faces delay in Solomons

The Solomon Islands' parliament yesterday deferred a vote on whether to oust Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare because some lawmakers had received threats and were too scared to attend, the opposition leader said.

Sogavare, who came to power after riots flared in April, said the opposition postponed its no-confidence motion because it knew it did not have enough support.

The action in the South Pacific nation's legislature capped a dramatic week, with a scandal involving child sex allegations against a top official and a widening rift between Sogavare and Australia, the regional power whose troops are keeping the peace in the Solomons.

Opposition leader Fred Fono had expected to be able to force Sogavare out when parliament met yesterday. But when the session opened, he asked that the no-confidence vote be deferred for a week, without giving reasons.

Outside parliament, he said that many lawmakers had agreed Sogavare should go, but some hadn't turned up at the session.

"There have been a lot of threats and security risks," Fono told reporters.

Sogavare said that this was an excuse.

"It is clear that the leader of the opposition would like to withdraw because obviously they do not have the power," he said. "We have the numbers now."

Security had been tightened throughout the capital, Honiara, amid fears of a repeat of the violence that razed the city's Chinatown district in April.

The rioting was fueled by unsubstantiated rumors that newly elected prime minister Snyder Rini had funded his campaign with money from Taiwan or China.

Rini was ousted, bringing Sogavare to power as Australian police and soldiers restored order.

Sogavare's insistence on holding an inquiry into the riots has angered Canberra.
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