Australia has offered to fund elections in the Solomon Islands after the Pacific nation’s prime minister introduced legislation to delay the vote until 2024, arguing his country couldn’t afford to hold both the election and the 2023 Pacific Games.
(Bloomberg) — Australia has offered to fund elections in the Solomon Islands after the Pacific nation’s prime minister introduced legislation to delay the vote until 2024, arguing his country couldn’t afford to hold both the election and the 2023 Pacific Games.
Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the offer reflected the country’s commitment to supporting “democratic processes in the Solomon Islands.” She didn’t say how much would be given.
“We have made an offer of assistance and its a matter for the Solomon Islands as to whether they will respond and how they wish to respond,” she said, adding it was a “common” approach for Australian governments.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as well as the Solomon Islands government didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Under new legislation introduced by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s government in August, the Solomon Islands would change its constitution to delay dissolving parliament until 31 December 2023. This means elections would be called in 2024.
With the Solomon Islands due to host the 2023 Pacific Games in November, it would be too expensive for the nation to hold “two large events at the same time,” Sogavare’s office said in a statement on August 10. “The appropriate option is to defer the election and host the games,” it added.
Solomon Islands Suspends US Naval Visits as Tensions Rise
Solomons opposition Leader Matthew Wale said last week the offers of funding from international partners had removed the need for the election to be postponed.
“If that was the case all he needs to do is formally ask donor partners, the democratic ones, who have elections, and they are more than happy to fund elections,” Wale said at a press conference.
Australia and the US have been increasingly concerned about links between the Solomon Islands and China in the wake of the unexpected signing of a security agreement between Honiara and Beijing in April. No final version of the agreement has been released but a draft copy leaked in March would have allowed Chinese warships safe harbor just 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) from the Australian coastline.
The Solomon Islands announced on August 29 it would be suspending all naval visits from “partner countries,” after a US coast guard vessel didn’t receive a response to requests to dock in the Pacific nation. Sogavare told parliament on Monday that Australian and New Zealand vessels would be exempt from the ban.
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