Solomon Islands government imperilled by resignations
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele faces a no-confidence motion in his leadership and government just a year in the job, after an apparent mutiny involving his predecessor Manasseh Sogavare.
Mr Manele has governed with the support of a three-party coalition, negotiated after an April 2024 election delivered a minority parliament.
He will tick over a year as prime minister later this week, and then face a showdown vote in parliament he is set to lose.
On Monday, 10 MPs, led by Mr Sogavare, the finance minister, resigned from the government, first reported by In-depth Solomons and confirmed by Government House.
Later that afternoon, Honiara-based MP Gordon Darcy Lilo - who like Mr Sogavare is a previous prime minister - lodged a no-confidence motion with parliament's Speaker Patteson Oti.
Under parliamentary rules, it must sit on the books for a week before being brought on, meaning a crunch vote could be held from May 6.
"We expect it to be moved on the floor of parliament in the middle of next week," parliament's clerk Jefferson Hallu said, as reported by SIBC.
Also on Monday, the deputy prime minister Bradley Tovosia resigned his role, while staying supportive of the government, according to a statement from Mr Manele's office.
According to reports in the Solomon Islands media, Mr Tovosia's conduct was causing tension among government MPs, which suggests his resignation is an attempt to calm waters and restore support in his coalition.
"Coalition partners unanimously resolved that the national interest must come first, and Hon. Tovosia resignation was made in accordance with this collective decision," the government statement read.
Given the unpredictability of the situation, is is unclear how events will evolve, with political manoeuvring likely to determine Mr Manele's fate.
Political instability is nothing new in Solomon Islands: there have been 11 changes of prime minister this century.
The Melanesian nation of 750,000 people also faces enormous challenges, not least economically. It is the poorest nation in the Pacific per capita.
Mr Manele was foreign minister under Mr Sogavare, an ally and fellow OUR Party member, before emerging as the successful candidate for prime minister in post-election government formation talks.
Both are considered pro-China leaders, and wary of Australia's influence, despite Canberra being the country's biggest source of development assistance by a distance.
Mr Manele won a secret ballot vote to be prime minister over Opposition Leader Matthew Wale 31-18 to take office last year.
While his government has attracted additional members since then, an abandonment of 10 MPs would imperil his leadership if they voted against him in a no-confidence motion.
Mr Lilo's motion is his second attempt to topple the government six months.
Last December, he tabled a similar motion - citing concerns with cost of living pressures and government corruption - only to withdraw the motion before it went to a vote.
"The situation that we are in right now, I think it requires good encouragement," he said in parliament.
"Stick together. Be strong. Run a country in a responsible way ... (don't) derail confidence in running the government of our country.
"Please think about our people, our beloved country, that are struggling (with) high prices."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Trade Minister Don Farrell confident in negotiations to finalise European Union free trade deal
Trade Minister Don Farrell has confirmed momentum is building for a free trade agreement with the European Union, more than 18 months after negotiations collapsed, with sticking points like beef exports and luxury car taxes still on the table. The Albanese government has expressed confidence it will strike a long-awaited free trade agreement with the European Union. Trade Minister Don Farrell told Sky News Sunday Agenda there was 'a lot of goodwill in the air' following revived negotiations with the EU. Mr Farrell met with European counterparts on Wednesday, the first face-to-face talks since free trade negotiations collapsed in October 2023. He acknowledged several sticking points remain unresolved, including Australia's luxury car tax and EU demands for exclusive naming rights for prosciutto and parmesan 'We haven't yet got an agreement, but there was a lot of goodwill in the air in Paris last week,' Mr Farrell said. 'I'm confident that if that goodwill continues, that we can secure a new free trade agreement with the European Union.' The comments follow Mr Farrell's meeting with European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic on the sidelines of an OECD summit in Paris. A visit by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Australia is also expected in July or August. Mr Farrell said both sides now recognise the urgency of finalising an agreement in a 'rapidly changing global environment', amid US President Donald Trump's tariffs. 'Those countries that believe in free and fair trade have to work together,' Mr Farrell said. 'I'm very confident that with a little bit of time, a little bit of hard work on our part… we can get there and we can strike an agreement.' — Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) May 18, 2025 Australian officials have said that agriculture remains the biggest sticking point, which was a major cause of the failed negotiations in 2023. The government has signalled a willingness to consider abolishing the luxury car tax—an irritant to EU exporters—in exchange for greater access to lamb and beef markets. The issue of geographical indications—terms like feta, prosecco, parmesan, and prosciutto—also continues to be a flashpoint. Some European nations want to reserve these product names for EU-based producers only, a move resisted by Australian farmers and manufacturers. The EU is Australia's third-largest trading partner, representing a market of 450 million people and a GDP of about AUD$20 trillion. Mr Farrell said a trade agreement would unlock benefits across investment, education, supply chains and export growth. 'We've got lots of things that we can sell to the Europeans. I believe now that there's an appetite to reach an agreement on both sides,' he said. The renewed push comes amid heightened global uncertainty, with US President Donald Trump announcing plans to double steel tariffs to 50 per cent. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Trump will likely meet for the first time in Kananaskis, Canada, between June 15 and 17.
The Advertiser
7 hours ago
- The Advertiser
US and China set for new trade talks in London
Three of US President Donald Trump's top aides are set to meet with their Chinese counterparts in London for talks aimed at resolving a trade dispute between the governments of the world's two largest economies that has kept global markets on edge. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will represent the United States in the talks on Monday, Trump announced in a post on his Truth Social platform. China's foreign ministry said on Saturday that Vice Premier He Lifeng will be in the United Kingdom between Sunday and Friday, adding that the first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism would be held during this visit. "The meeting should go very well," Trump wrote. The first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism will be held with the United States during He's visit, Chinese authorities said. He led the Chinese side in the first round of trade talks that took place in Switzerland in May. Trump spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday in a rare leader-to-leader call amid weeks of brewing trade tensions and a dispute over critical minerals. Trump and Xi agreed to visit one another and asked their staffs to hold talks in the meantime. Both countries are under pressure to relieve tensions, with the global economy under pressure over Chinese control over the rare earth mineral exports of which it is the dominant producer and investors more broadly anxious about Trump's wider effort to impose tariffs on goods from most US trading partners. China, meanwhile, has seen its own supply of key US imports like chip-design software and nuclear plant parts curtailed. The countries struck a 90-day deal on May 12 in Switzerland to roll back some of the triple-digit, tit-for-tat tariffs they had placed on each other since Trump returned to the presidency in January. That preliminary deal sparked a global relief rally in stock markets, and US indexes that had been in or near bear market levels have recouped the lion's share of their losses. The S&P 500 stock index, which at its lowest point in early April was down nearly 18 per cent after Trump unveiled his sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs on goods from across the globe, is now only about 2 per cent below its record high from mid-February. The final third of that rally followed the US-China truce struck in Geneva. Still, that temporary deal did not address broader concerns that strain the bilateral relationship, from the illicit fentanyl trade to the status of democratically governed Taiwan and US complaints about China's state-dominated export-driven economic model. Three of US President Donald Trump's top aides are set to meet with their Chinese counterparts in London for talks aimed at resolving a trade dispute between the governments of the world's two largest economies that has kept global markets on edge. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will represent the United States in the talks on Monday, Trump announced in a post on his Truth Social platform. China's foreign ministry said on Saturday that Vice Premier He Lifeng will be in the United Kingdom between Sunday and Friday, adding that the first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism would be held during this visit. "The meeting should go very well," Trump wrote. The first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism will be held with the United States during He's visit, Chinese authorities said. He led the Chinese side in the first round of trade talks that took place in Switzerland in May. Trump spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday in a rare leader-to-leader call amid weeks of brewing trade tensions and a dispute over critical minerals. Trump and Xi agreed to visit one another and asked their staffs to hold talks in the meantime. Both countries are under pressure to relieve tensions, with the global economy under pressure over Chinese control over the rare earth mineral exports of which it is the dominant producer and investors more broadly anxious about Trump's wider effort to impose tariffs on goods from most US trading partners. China, meanwhile, has seen its own supply of key US imports like chip-design software and nuclear plant parts curtailed. The countries struck a 90-day deal on May 12 in Switzerland to roll back some of the triple-digit, tit-for-tat tariffs they had placed on each other since Trump returned to the presidency in January. That preliminary deal sparked a global relief rally in stock markets, and US indexes that had been in or near bear market levels have recouped the lion's share of their losses. The S&P 500 stock index, which at its lowest point in early April was down nearly 18 per cent after Trump unveiled his sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs on goods from across the globe, is now only about 2 per cent below its record high from mid-February. The final third of that rally followed the US-China truce struck in Geneva. Still, that temporary deal did not address broader concerns that strain the bilateral relationship, from the illicit fentanyl trade to the status of democratically governed Taiwan and US complaints about China's state-dominated export-driven economic model. Three of US President Donald Trump's top aides are set to meet with their Chinese counterparts in London for talks aimed at resolving a trade dispute between the governments of the world's two largest economies that has kept global markets on edge. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will represent the United States in the talks on Monday, Trump announced in a post on his Truth Social platform. China's foreign ministry said on Saturday that Vice Premier He Lifeng will be in the United Kingdom between Sunday and Friday, adding that the first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism would be held during this visit. "The meeting should go very well," Trump wrote. The first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism will be held with the United States during He's visit, Chinese authorities said. He led the Chinese side in the first round of trade talks that took place in Switzerland in May. Trump spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday in a rare leader-to-leader call amid weeks of brewing trade tensions and a dispute over critical minerals. Trump and Xi agreed to visit one another and asked their staffs to hold talks in the meantime. Both countries are under pressure to relieve tensions, with the global economy under pressure over Chinese control over the rare earth mineral exports of which it is the dominant producer and investors more broadly anxious about Trump's wider effort to impose tariffs on goods from most US trading partners. China, meanwhile, has seen its own supply of key US imports like chip-design software and nuclear plant parts curtailed. The countries struck a 90-day deal on May 12 in Switzerland to roll back some of the triple-digit, tit-for-tat tariffs they had placed on each other since Trump returned to the presidency in January. That preliminary deal sparked a global relief rally in stock markets, and US indexes that had been in or near bear market levels have recouped the lion's share of their losses. The S&P 500 stock index, which at its lowest point in early April was down nearly 18 per cent after Trump unveiled his sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs on goods from across the globe, is now only about 2 per cent below its record high from mid-February. The final third of that rally followed the US-China truce struck in Geneva. Still, that temporary deal did not address broader concerns that strain the bilateral relationship, from the illicit fentanyl trade to the status of democratically governed Taiwan and US complaints about China's state-dominated export-driven economic model. Three of US President Donald Trump's top aides are set to meet with their Chinese counterparts in London for talks aimed at resolving a trade dispute between the governments of the world's two largest economies that has kept global markets on edge. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will represent the United States in the talks on Monday, Trump announced in a post on his Truth Social platform. China's foreign ministry said on Saturday that Vice Premier He Lifeng will be in the United Kingdom between Sunday and Friday, adding that the first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism would be held during this visit. "The meeting should go very well," Trump wrote. The first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism will be held with the United States during He's visit, Chinese authorities said. He led the Chinese side in the first round of trade talks that took place in Switzerland in May. Trump spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday in a rare leader-to-leader call amid weeks of brewing trade tensions and a dispute over critical minerals. Trump and Xi agreed to visit one another and asked their staffs to hold talks in the meantime. Both countries are under pressure to relieve tensions, with the global economy under pressure over Chinese control over the rare earth mineral exports of which it is the dominant producer and investors more broadly anxious about Trump's wider effort to impose tariffs on goods from most US trading partners. China, meanwhile, has seen its own supply of key US imports like chip-design software and nuclear plant parts curtailed. The countries struck a 90-day deal on May 12 in Switzerland to roll back some of the triple-digit, tit-for-tat tariffs they had placed on each other since Trump returned to the presidency in January. That preliminary deal sparked a global relief rally in stock markets, and US indexes that had been in or near bear market levels have recouped the lion's share of their losses. The S&P 500 stock index, which at its lowest point in early April was down nearly 18 per cent after Trump unveiled his sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs on goods from across the globe, is now only about 2 per cent below its record high from mid-February. The final third of that rally followed the US-China truce struck in Geneva. Still, that temporary deal did not address broader concerns that strain the bilateral relationship, from the illicit fentanyl trade to the status of democratically governed Taiwan and US complaints about China's state-dominated export-driven economic model.
West Australian
12 hours ago
- West Australian
China sends vice premier to UK for trade talks with US
China's foreign ministry says Vice Premier He Lifeng will visit the United Kingdom for talks with representatives from the United States. The first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism will be held with the United States during this visit, the ministry said. The vice premier will be in the UK between Sunday and Friday, Chinese officials said. He led the Chinese side in the first round of trade talks that took place in Switzerland in May. US President Donald Trump said on Friday that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will represent the United States in the talks.
