| Parliament name |
National Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
4 August 2010 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all seats in the National Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
On 15 January 2010, Speaker Peter Kenilorea announced that parliament would be dissolved on 24 April in view of parliamentary elections. In May, he announced that he would be retiring from politics. He had become the Chief Minister of the Solomon Islands in 1976, and led his country to independence from Great Britain two years later, before becoming the first Prime Minister. On 22 June, Governor-General Frank Kabui called elections for 4 August upon the proposal of Prime Minister Derek Sikua.
In the previous elections held in April 2006, no party won more than four seats, triggering political instability until the 2010 elections. Independent candidates - most of whom were reportedly allied with the Association of Independent Members of Parliament (AIM, formed by independent MPs in the outgoing legislature) - took 30 seats. The National Party (NP) and the Solomon Islands Party for Rural Advancement won four seats each, while the Solomon Islands Democratic Party took three. The then Prime Minister Allan Kemakeza's People's Alliance Party (PAP) took three seats. Former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's Social Credit Party (Socred) and Speaker Kenilorea's Liberal Party (LP) took two seats each. No women were elected in 2006. Only one woman has ever entered parliament in the country's history.
Mr. Snyder Rini's candidature (backed by AIM) for the post of prime minister following the 2006 elections triggered widespread street protests in the capital Honiara, targeted at the Chinatown area. Protesters alleged corruption and insisted that Mr. Rini had been unfairly favouring Chinese businessmen. Protests intensified after Mr. Rini was elected Prime Minister on 18 April, prompting peacekeeping troops from Australia and New Zealand to arrive in the Solomon Islands the following day. On 24 April, Mr. Kenilorea was elected unopposed as Speaker. Two days later, Mr. Rini resigned as Prime Minister in anticipation of a no-confidence vote in parliament and was succeeded by caretaker Prime Minister Fred Fono, a close ally. Parties opposing the premiership of either Mr. Rini or Mr. Kemakeza subsequently formed a Grand Coalition for Change (GCC) government. Their candidate for the premiership, Mr. Manasseh Sogavare (Socred), defeated Mr. Fono in May.
In November 2007, nine ministers, including the then Education Minister Derek Sikua, defected to the opposition amid controversy over the appointment of Mr. Julian Moti - an Australian citizen wanted for child sex charges - to the post of Attorney General. In December, Prime Minister Sogavare lost a no-confidence vote brought by Mr. Sikua. Parliament subsequently elected Mr. Sikua, who was serving his first term as a parliamentarian, as the new Prime Minister. In January 2008, Mr. Sikua's Coalition for National Unity and Rural Advancement government (C-NURA) dismissed Mr. Moti from the post of Attorney General, which led to a normalization of the country's relations with Australia.
In April 2010, parliament rejected the proposal contained in the Constituency Boundaries Commission 2009 report to create 17 additional seats. Later the same month, it also rejected the Constitution Political Parties Amendment Bill and the Political Parties (Registration and Administration) Bill 2009, which would have prevented parliamentarians from crossing the floor. Prime Minister Sikua, who had argued that the bills would stabilize politics, subsequently dismissed five ministers who had opposed them.
On 24 April, parliament was dissolved in view of general elections.
Several parties were formed prior to the 2010 elections. In February 2010, former prime minister Sogavare and eight other parliamentarians established the Ownership, Unity and Responsibility party (OUR). In May, the country's first 'women's political party', the Twelve Pillars to Peace and Prosperity (TP4), was launched under the leadership of Ms. Delma Nori. The TP4 pledged to provide an avenue for women and men who believed in a gender-friendly democratic process. In June, Deputy Prime Minister Fred Fono launched the Solomon Islands People's Congress Party, pledging to reform constituency development funding.
In all, 509 candidates, including 25 women, were vying for seats in the 2010 elections.
Outgoing Prime Minister Sikua of the C-NURA called on voters' support, stating that they should elect leaders who would "serve the country's interest ahead of their own".
The Solomon Islands Democratic Party (SIDP), led by Planning Minister Steve Abana, pledged to table a bill that would seek to ensure political stability.
The OUR party, of former prime minister Sogavare, pledged to decentralize economic development and reintroduce the bottom-up development strategy that had been previously implemented under his government.
The PAP, led by Mr. James Mekab, promised to improve roads by bringing a dozen well qualified engineers to supervise road developments.
Deputy Prime Minister Fono's Solomon Islands People's Congress Party promised to transform the Solomon Islands into an innovative and prosperous nation. It also promised to foster private-sector expansion so as to create jobs. Mr. Fono said he would consider allotting up to four reserved seats for women in parliament if women did not perform well in the upcoming elections.
Despite heavy rain in some constituencies, turnout was reportedly high among the 600,000 registered voters. Voting took place in relative peace except in Temotu, Central and Malaita provinces where crowds angry at election results damaged shops and buildings. In Malaita, Mr. Jimmy Lusibaea, a former militia leader, won a landslide victory in the northern part of the island.
The Commonwealth observers who monitored the polls praised the peaceful atmosphere in which voting had taken place and concluded that voters had freely exercised their democratic right. They nevertheless expressed concern over the quality of the voter register and recommended that the electoral management body create a new register before the next elections.
As in the 2006 elections, independent members became the largest force in the new legislature, controlling 19 seats. Among the political parties, the SIDP came in first with 13 seats. Former prime minister Sogavare's OUR party and the Reform Democratic Party of Solomon Islands (RDPSI) led by Mr. Danny Philip took three seats each. The TP4 failed to win any parliamentary representation. As in the previous elections, no women were elected in 2010.
The 2010 election resulted in a high turnover, with half of the outgoing members voted out. They included former prime minister Kemakeza, outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Fono and Foreign Minister William Haomae. The latter was defeated by Mr. Rick Hou, a former central bank governor credited with preventing the country's economic collapse.
On 25 August, a veteran politician, Mr. Philip (RDPSI), was elected Prime Minister, beating Mr. Abana (SIDP) by 26 votes to 23.
On 8 September, the National Parliament held its first session and elected former prime minister Kemakeza (PAP) as its new Speaker. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 4 August 2010 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| Independents |
19
|
|
|
|
|
| Solomon Islands Democratic Party |
13
|
|
|
|
|
| Ownership, Unity and Responsibility party (OUR) |
3
|
|
|
|
|
| Reform Democratic Party |
3
|
|
|
|
|
| Independent Democratic Party |
2
|
|
|
|
|
| People's Alliance Party (PAP) |
2
|
|
|
|
|
| Solomon Islands Party for Rural Advancement |
2
|
|
|
|
|
| Rural Development Party |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Solomon Islands Liberal Party (LP) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Solomon Islands National party (NP) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| People's Federation Party |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| People's Congress Party |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Rural and Urban Political Party |
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
50
0
0.00%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
National Parliament (10.08.2012, 11.10.2012)
Note on the number of women:
No women were elected in the August 2010 elections. One woman was elected in the by-elections held in August 2012 and sworn in in September. |
|
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
