General elections were held in the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its ca ...

on 5 April 2006. No party won more than four of the fifty seats, while thirty seats went to

independent candidates An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views t ...

. A number of those subsequently formed an

Association of Independent Members of Parliament The Association of Independent Members is a political party in the Solomon Islands. At the last legislative elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individu ...

, with Snyder Rini as their leader. Rini was elected

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

on 18 April, amidst "widespread street protests" in

Honiara Honiara () is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. , it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and l ...

, which caused particular damage in the city's Chinatown. Rioters "alleged corruption and insisted that Mr. Rini had been unfairly favouring Chinese businessmen". While the riots ceased with the arrival of Australian and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

peacekeeping troops the next day, the opposition soon lodged a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

in Rini's premiership. Rini resigned on 26 April, having been Prime Minister for just eight days. Opposition parties united in a coalition and succeeded in having

Manasseh Sogavare Manasseh Damukana Sogavare (born 17 January 1955) is the sixth and current Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, serving since 24 April 2019. He previously held the office in 2000–2001, 2006—2007 and 2014–2017; in all he has served over ni ...

, of the Solomon Islands Social Credit Party, elected Prime Minister on 4 May.

Conduct

Australia sent a ten-member observer delegation to monitor the election, led by Senator Marise Payne, and comprising MPs

Bob Sercombe Robert Charles Grant Sercombe (born 3 April 1949) is a former Australian politician who represented the Division of Maribyrnong, Victoria for the Australian Labor Party from March 1996 until his retirement at the 2007 federal election. He was ...

and Michael Ferguson, former Queensland Electoral Commissioner

Bob Longland Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places * Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname ...

, and six experienced officials from the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Defence and AusAID. The Australian observer delegation was joined by other international observer teams from

, Japan, the USA, the

Commonwealth Secretariat The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating co-operation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads o ...

and the

Pacific Islands Forum The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is an inter-governmental organization that aims to enhance cooperation between countries and territories of Oceania, including formation of a trade bloc and regional peacekeeping operations. It was founded in 197 ...

Secretariat. The United Nations Electoral Assistance Division coordinated the consolidated international observer effort. The international observers' interim assessment said the polling process was transparent and well-conducted, and voters were able to exercise a free and secret vote.

Results

Twenty-six women candidates stood in the election, but none were elected, making the Solomons' Parliament one of the world's few all-male legislatures."Women call for change in perception"
, Lora Lini, ''Vanuatu Daily Post'', 4 February 2009

References

{{Solomon Islands elections

Elections in the Solomon Islands 2006 in the Solomon Islands Election and referendum articles with incomplete results