Peter Kenilorea Jr. is a Solomon Islander politician. He is the son of

Peter Kenilorea Sir Peter Kenilorea (23 May 1943 – 24 February 2016) was a Solomon Islander politician, officially styled The Rt Hon. Sir Peter Kenilorea as a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. He was the first prime minister of an independ ...

, and was elected to the National Parliament of Solomon Islands in 2019.

Early life and education

Peter Kenilorea Jr. was born around 1973. His father

was the first

Prime Minister of Solomon Islands The prime minister of Solomon Islands is Solomon Islands' head of government, as elected by the National Parliament of Solomon Islands, National Parliament. Since May 2024 Jeremiah Manele has been the prime minister of Solomon Islands. Solomon ...

. Kenilorea Jr. attended Su’u National Secondary School on

Malaita Malaita is the primary island of Malaita Province in Solomon Islands. Malaita is the most populous island of the Solomon Islands, with a population of 161,832 as of 2021, or more than a third of the entire national population. It is also the se ...

, then transferred to Wesley College, Auckland, in New Zealand. Upon the completion of secondary education, Kenilorea Jr. pursued a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

at the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a Public university, public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in nume ...

, followed by a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

in international law at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

Career

Kenilorea began his legal career with Jennifer Corrin Barrister & Solicitor in 1994. He began working for the Attorney General of the Solomon Islands in 1996, and left his government position for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

in 2000. Kenilorea held several roles at the UN, returning to the government of Solomon Islands in 2017 as permanent secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade. Kenilorea contested the 2019 general election on behalf of the United Party, and was elected a member of parliament for East ꞌAreꞌare. Supporters of Kenilorea's predecessor, Andrew Manepora'a, filed a petition against Kenilorea alleging corruption in May 2019. In March 2020, the petition was dismissed. The United Party supported Kenilorea's candidacy for head of government, an office won by Manasseh Sogavare. Soon after Sogavare's fourth cabinet took office, his government chose to end diplomatic relations with the Republic of China. Kenilorea sharply criticized the establishment of bilateral relations with the People's Republic of China. He offered public support to John Maneniaru, who described the diplomatic switch as the government serving "new Chinese masters" in October 2019. Through May 2020, Kenilorea petitioned for a change in leadership. As the Solomon Islands government took action against the COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania, Kenilorea continued bringing attention to Taiwan's humanitarian aid. He urged the government to serve Solomon Islanders, and regularly questioned government efforts regarding COVID-19.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenilorea 02, Peter 1970s births Living people 20th-century Solomon Islands lawyers Members of the National Parliament of the Solomon Islands Solomon Islands expatriates in New Zealand University of Waikato alumni Alumni of the University of Nottingham Expatriates in the United Kingdom Solomon Islands officials of the United Nations People educated at Wesley College, Auckland Solomon Islands United Party politicians