General elections were held in the
Solomon Islands on 5 April 2006. No party won more than four of the fifty seats, while thirty seats went to
independent candidates. A number of those subsequently formed an
Association of Independent Members of Parliament, with
Snyder Rini as their leader. Rini was elected
Prime Minister by
Parliament on 18 April, amidst "widespread street protests" in
Honiara, which caused particular damage in the city's Chinatown. Rioters "alleged corruption and insisted that Mr. Rini had been unfairly favouring Chinese businessmen". While the riots ceased with the arrival of
Australian and
New Zealand peacekeeping troops the next day, the opposition soon lodged a
motion of no confidence in Rini's premiership. Rini resigned on 26 April, having been Prime Minister for just eight days. Opposition parties united in a coalition and succeeded in having
Manasseh Sogavare, of the
Solomon Islands Social Credit Party, elected Prime Minister on 4 May.[1]
Conduct
Australia sent a ten-member observer delegation to monitor the election, led by Senator
Marise Payne, and comprising MPs
Bob Sercombe and
Michael Ferguson, former Queensland Electoral Commissioner
Bob Longland, and six experienced officials from the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Defence and
AusAID. The Australian observer delegation was joined by other international observer teams from
New Zealand,
Japan, the
USA, the
Commonwealth Secretariat and the
Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. The United Nations Electoral Assistance Division coordinated the consolidated international observer effort.[2] The international observers' interim assessment said the polling process was transparent and well-conducted, and voters were able to exercise a free and secret vote.[3]
Results
Twenty-six women candidates stood in the election, but none were elected, making the Solomons' Parliament one of the world's few all-male legislatures.[4]
