Veteran Solomon Islands politician Danny Philip was declared the 14th prime minister of the Pacific island nation yesterday, beating the only other candidate Steve Abana by three votes.
The election was held amid tight security with access to parliament grounds restricted to MPs and their staff and an alcohol ban in place across the capital, Honiara, to avoid any repeat of the riots that followed the 2006 vote.
Philip received 26 votes to 23 for Abana, with one ballot paper spoiled, Governor-General Sir Frank Kabui announced following the ballot by the 50 successful candidates from the Aug. 4 general election.
The new prime minister said his first priority would be to form a government and then a policy document would be made available in 70 days.
“This is a victory for the people of the Solomon Islands and I thank the people who have supported me in my constituency and in my group,” said Philip, a four-term MP. “I take this opportunity to assure our people that we will govern seriously and we will have a government that is purposeful and resolute,” he said.
The 59-year-old, who was the Solomon Islands’ foreign minister from 1995 to 1996 and again from July 2000 to June 2001, said a priority for his government will be constitutional reform.
Both Philip and Abana claimed before the vote that they had the necessary support of 26 MPs needed to form a new government after three weeks of intense horsetrading following the election.
However, in the tumultuous world of Solomons politics, with no deep-rooted party political system — which has led to 14 changes of prime minister in just 32 years since independence — it is not unusual for MPs to change allegiance.
The most notable switch in the lead-up to the latest vote was former prime minister Manasseh Sogavare, who joined the Abana camp just days before the election.
Sogavare was one of three prime ministers in the last four-year parliamentary term following the 2006 election.
The first-choice prime minister Snyder Rini lasted just eight days before he was forced to step down after his election ignited riots, which caused millions of US dollars of damage in Honiara.He was replaced by Sogavare, who was in charge for 19 months before he lost a no-confidence vote and Derek Sikua was appointed.
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