Solomon Islands prime minister has been removed in a vote of no...

Solomon Islands prime minister has been removed in a vote of no confidence after the controversial deferral of long-awaited anti-corruption legislation.





By
Stefan Armbruster

4 HOURS AGO  UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
The prime minister of the Solomon Islands Manasseh Sogavare has been removed in a vote of no confidence.
The challenge came after protests over the controversial deferral of long-awaited anti-corruption legislation.
The three-time prime minister lost 27 to 23 after a day-long debate.
A successor will be chosen when parliament resumes, however it's difficult to predict who that will be.
"There's quite a number of candidates there that would probably want to be prime minister," former Western province MP Peter Boyers said.






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"So I suppose once it becomes fluid that's the big question - how does one, in that sort of grouping, come to a collective position, since there's basically three separate identities in the opposition and supporting the opposition?"
The political crisis came after nine ministers, including deputy prime minister Manasseh Maelanga, defected and several backbenchers announced they were leaving.
They claim the ruling Democratic Coalition for Change had lost faith in Mr Sogavare's leadership.
But Mr Sogavare blamed the resignations on an anti- corruption bill about to go before parliament, with some MPs fearing it could lead to them being jailed.

"The move by some of the nine ministers was orchestrated in an attempt to derail the Anti-Corruption Bill (ACB)," Mr Sogavare's office said in a statement.

"Some of these resignations come as no surprise based on the fact that some of these same ministers were responsible for undermining the progress of the ACB."