A general election was held in Solomon Islands on 4 August 2010. In May 2010, Prime MinisterDerek Sikua announced that the election would be held on 4 August; however, this announcement was deemed to be premature, as only the Governor General has the authority to announce the election date upon the advice of the Electoral Commission. In the end, this date was used, however.
Candidates
There were a total of 509 candidates, including 25 women.
Election
On 11 August 2009, lobbying was reported in progress, as several political groups jockeyed to form a coalition government. No candidates for the Solomon Islands leadership post of Prime Minister had yet been announced; however, it appears that three main camps have formed. The first camp is built around the outgoing government led by Derek Sikua. One of its spokespeople, Matthew Wale, claimed on 13 August that the group has the support of five parties and 30 MPs including the Democratic Party, the National Party, the Party for Rural Advancement, the Liberal Party, the People's Congress Party, and six independents. This camp is based at the Heritage Hotel. A second camp is based around three parties: the Ownership, Unity and Reconciliation party, which is led by a former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare; the Direct Development Party, which is led by former Director of the Solomon Islands College of Higher Education ; and the Reform and Democratic Party, which is led by a former Deputy Prime MinisterDanny Philip. This camp is based at the Pacific Casino Hotel. A third camp is led by the newly established Independent Democratic Party, led by Snyder Rini and is based at Honiara Hotel. The IDP's party secretary Leonard Kaitu'u explained that the IDP was the successor to a previous party, the Association of Independent Members. Kaitu'u has suggested that their camp will also get support from the People's Alliance Party and the Solomon Islands Party for Rural Advancement. However, it is not clear whether the PAP won any seats in the new parliament and it is possible that SIPRA will decide to join with the Heritage Hotel camp. A spokesman for the group denied that cash incentives were being used to secure members for the coalition.
Results
The event was overseen by international election observers connected with the United Nations International Election Observation Coordination Team. The elections were described as peaceful, although strong concerns were expressed about voter registration irregularities. 25 incumbents were returned and 25 were replaced. Of the 50 MPs, most are relatively inexperienced: 45 have served less than two terms in office. The five long-serving MPs are Job Dudley Tausinga, Danny Philip, Snyder Rini, Manasseh Sogavare and Gordon Darcy Lilo. OUR = Ownership, Unity and Responsibility Party, SIDP = SI Democratic Party, RDP = Reform Democratic Party, SIPRA = SI Party for Rural Advancement, SINP = SI National Party, DDP = Direct Development Party, RUPP = Rural and Urban Development Party, IDP = Independent Democratic Party, SILP = SI Liberal Party, PCP = People's Congress Party, PFP = People's Federation Party, Ind. = independent
Note that returning MPs are marked with an asterisk and that party affiliations are based on the affiliations recorded by the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission and as reported in various news reports. In some cases, MPs have been assigned dual party affiliations where the available reporting is unclear.
Prime Minister
Danny Philip was narrowly elected the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands on 24 August 2010, with 26 votes compared with 23 for his rival, the SIDP's Steve Abana. In a victory speech following the Prime Ministerial election, Philip stated that his first priority would be to form a new government. He said his government would actively support the country's Constitutional Reform process. This had been one of his central campaign pledges, and the reason why he had formed the Reform Democratic Party. Upon naming his Cabinet, he appointed Manasseh Maelanga as his deputy.
