Solomon Islands election count underway, China critic Suidani regains seat
By Kirsty Needham
(Reuters) -Daniel Suidani, a prominent Solomon Islands critic of China who was former Malaita province premier, has been reelected to the provincial assembly, as counting continues on Friday in the key Pacific island nation's election.
The elections are the first since Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare struck a security pact with China in 2022 and drew the Pacific Islands nation closer to Beijing, in moves that concerned the U.S. and Australia because of the potential impact on regional security.
Results in national and provincial elections held in the Solomon Islands on Wednesday are being announced over several days, closely watched by China, the U.S. and Australia.
Suidani, whose new political party U4C also ran candidates in the national election, was reelected to the Malaita provincial assembly, he confirmed to Reuters on Friday.
As premier he had banned Chinese companies from Malaita, the Solomon Islands' most populous province, and accepted U.S. development aid before being ousted last year in a no confidence vote by lawmakers for his refusal to recognise China.
China sent its top envoy for the South Pacific to Malaita province this month to sign a memorandum of understanding with the new premier, Martin Fini. Fini lost his seat in the provincial assembly, electoral officials said on Friday, which means he would no longer be eligible to be premier.
Suidani said his win, the ousting of the pro-China Fini by voters, and the election of several new lawmakers to the provincial assembly in Malaita showed that voters wanted to see change in government.
"It's a joy for all Malaitians who believe in democracy," he said in a telephone interview, but noted that counting was still under way and that the final numbers in the provincial assembly were unknown.
"From my point of view, what Malaita is doing at the moment, they are trying to rescue the province from bad leadership, corruption," he added.
Johnson Osiramoa, who beat Fini as an independent candidate, said yesterday that he would join the U4C party, Suidani said.
There is a heavy police presence outside counting centres providing security, elections chief Jasper Highwood Anisi said.
Police and defence forces from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji are assisting with election security.
The 50 members of the national parliament are elected for a four-year term, and the seat results, which are expected to be known by Monday, will indicate if any party has achieved a majority, or if negotiations to form a coalition are needed before a prime minister is selected.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by Jamie Freed and Gerry Doyle)
