Former education minister Derek Sikua was elected prime minister of the Solomon Islands yesterday, and immediately moved to repair ties with regional powers that became strained under his ousted predecessor
Sikua pledged yesterday to soothe ties with Canberra by sending controversial Attorney-General Julian Moti back to Australia to face child sex charges.
He had beem elected by legislators earlier in the day under tight security following last week's ousting of controversial leader Manasseh Sogavare.
PHOTO: AFP
Sikua, who was a leading critic of combative former leader Manasseh Sogavare, defeated Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Patteson Oti in the vote, said Deli Oso, a spokeswoman for the prime minister's office.
The new leader, who led a defection by a dozen government lawmakers last month, won by 32 votes to 15 in the ballot among 47 lawmakers. One legislator in the 48-member house is dead and his seat remains unfilled.
Sogavare was ousted in a no-confidence vote last week, following the defection of nine ministers -- including Sikua -- who had become increasingly disillusioned over the prime minister's handling of the relationship with Australia and other regional neighbors.
Sogavare was embroiled in a bitter stand-off with Australia after the appointment last year of his friend Julian Moti, who Canberra wants to extradite over child sex charges dating back to 1997.
Sikua said his Cabinet would make a formal decision on how Moti would be sent back to Australia when it meets this weekend.
"Moti is an Australian citizen, he will be sent back to Australia," he told a press conference. "The new immigration minister needs to be in place to sign the instruments."
A tight security cordon surrounded the parliament during the vote, with a police helicopter circling overhead and troops guarding the road up to the building on a hill overlooking the capital.
Police guarded the parliament and kept the public out of the immediate area, but there was no sign of trouble during the day.
Security forces belonging to the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) and local police were accused of negligence in failing to prevent rioting after a similar election in April last year.
The unpopular Snyder Rini was elected as prime minister but resigned less than a week later to be replaced by Sogavare, who regularly accused Australia of bullying during his 19-month term. Sogavare had been trying to reduce Australia's dominant role in RAMSI.
But Sikua said he wanted to visit Canberra early in the new year and would improve relations with RAMSI.
Sikua's election was welcomed by Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith.
"Australia is committed to assisting the Solomon Islands, through RAMSI and our bilateral aid program, to build a prosperous and sustainable future," Smith said.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not