The Solomon Islands Parliament will convene tomorrow — Thursday, May 7 — to consider a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele.
Parliament House has confirmed to RNZ Pacific that the Clerk to Parliament Jefferson Hallu has issued advisory letters to all MPs that the sitting will begin at 9:30am local time to deal with the motion.
It follows a political saga that culminated in a court ruling that Manele needed to call Parliament to face the motion of no confidence in his leadership.
The Court of Appeal dismissed Manele’s appeal against Chief Justice Sir Albert Palmer’s earlier ruling to that effect.
A drawn-out political impasse began in March after a mass resignation of government ministers and MPs.
The opposition and the defectors formed a new coalition and said they had the numbers for a majority of MPs in the 50-seat House, but have not been able to show that in Parliament because Manele refused to call a sitting.
The opposition coalition then took the matter to the High Court to try and force Manele to call Parliament and face their no-confidence motion.
Police call for public calm
Chief Justice Palmer ruled in their favour and ordered Manele to convene Parliament, and at the same time instructed the Governor-General to do so if he did not.
But the government appealed the ruling and the order to call Parliament was stayed — put on hold — until the appeal could be heard, and the appellate court gave their decision on Friday, May 1.
Police have called for public calm while the democratic process runs its course.
Police Commissioner Ian Vaevaso said police do not take sides in political matters but remain independent and committed to serving the people of the nation while upholding law at all times.
“Police will maintain high visibility presence to ensure the safety of all citizens and will respond to any incidents that may arise. Any unlawful activities will be dealt with accordingly.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.