OUR Party strongman Manasseh Sogavare has bowed out of the leadership race ahead of the election of Solomon Islands’ new prime minister this Thursday.
Instead, his group chose incumbent Foreign Affairs minister and MP for Hograno-Kia-Havulei Constituency, Jeremiah Manele, to be their candidate for the top job.
“OUR Party has entered into a coalition agreement with the People’s First Party,” Sogavare told a news conference this evening, with Manele and other party members by his side.
“We have chosen Jeremiah Manele as OUR Party Parliamentary Wing Leader. With our shared goals and visions, we stand in solidarity with him,” he stated.
Manele told reporters he had accepted his nomination to be the candidate for OUR Party-People First Party coalition, which they dubbed “Coalition for National Unity and Transformation (CNUT)”.
“As the nominated wing leader for this coalition, unity and transformation are not just abstract constants, they are the very bedrock upon which nations are built,” Manele said.
“I am able and willing to carry on this awesome responsibility.”
OUR Party PM Candidate, Jeremiah Manele| Credits: Charley Piringi
The election of the prime minister will be held this Thursday, Governor General Sir David Vunagi announced in Honiara today.
Nominations opened 10am today and will close at 4pm tomorrow, Tuesday, April 30.
Sogavare switched the country’s diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China in late 2019 after he assumed power following the elections that year.
He went on to sign a controversial security agreement with Beijing, which was never made public, much to the alarm of the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
OUR Party lost the majority of candidates it fielded in the April 17 polls, but returned with 15 members. It however, failed to win any new seats.
Sogavare, who defended his East Choiseul seat, claimed this evening he did not run to become the Prime minister.
“I contested as a candidate for East Choiseul not to become the prime minister. It’s up to the coalition government to decide who should become the prime Minister.
“Now we have Jeremiah Manele as our candidate for the post.”
Sogavare claimed they have 28 members in their camp – more than the 26 needed to secure the prime minister’s position.
Meanwhile, the other coalition group is expected to announce its candidate for the elections tomorrow before the nominations close..
They consist of the three political parties that make up the CARE coalition and the Solomon Islands United Party.
CARE, UP, and U4C Coalition leaders| Credit: CARE Comms
This group signed their coalition agreement last Saturday, but are yet to name their candidate. They claimed to have 20 members and were appealing to the newly-elected 10 independent MPs to join their ranks.
Party leaders that signed the agreement were Peter Kenilorea of United Party, Matthew Wale of Solomon Islands Democratic Party, Rick Houenipwela of Democratic Alliance Party and Daniel Waneoroa of Umi for Change (U4C).