China’s Pacific ally Solomon Islands expected to call election for April

SYDNEY: Solomon Islands is expected to next week call a national election for April, with China security ties emerging as a key issue as political parties launch campaigns in the Pacific Islands nation.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China soon after the 2019 election that brought him to power, later forging a security pact with Beijing that alarmed Washington and Canberra, and set off a race for influence in the strategically located Pacific Islands.

A prominent opposition party figure, the United Party’s Peter Kenilorea, said he wanted the China security pact reviewed, and would also seek to re-establish diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the Solomon Star newspaper reported on Wednesday (Feb 14).

Opposition leader Matthew Wale said at a campaign launch for a coalition of democratic parties on Wednesday that a referendum could be held to decide the country’s relationship with China.

“China is a superpower both militarily and economically, and there is much also to be gained from a relationship with China … We need to see what our national interest is,” Wale said at the livestreamed event.

He criticised Sogavare for not consulting the provinces before switching ties to China, which led to the largest province, Malaita, refusing to cooperate with Beijing for several years.

“The possibility of a referendum is a very real possibility to decide it once and for all,” Wale said.