MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Solomon Islands’ pro-Beijing prime minister Manasseh Sogavare On Monday, he withdrew from the race to remain head of government of the strategically important South Pacific island nation, following a general election two weeks ago that is at the heart of interstate rivalry -United and China in the region.
Sogavare was re-elected to parliament. But he told a news conference in the capital Honiara on Monday that he would not be nominated as a candidate when the 50 newly elected lawmakers vote for prime minister on Thursday, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
Sogavare hoped to become the first Solomon Islands prime minister to hold power for four consecutive years after the April 17 election. During his previous term, China’s influence grew more in the Solomon Islands than anywhere else in the South Pacific.
Sogavare switched diplomatic allegiances from Taiwan to Beijing and entered into a secret security pact that raised fears that the Chinese navy would gain a foothold in the region.
Sogavare said at his press conference that he had been “slandered by the media” and that his family had been subjected to “unprecedented abuse”, ABC reported.
Sogavare’s Ownership, Unity and Responsibility Party, known as Our Party, won 15 seats in the elections, more than any other party. The party’s candidate for prime minister will be Foreign Minister Jérémie Manele.
A prime minister needs the support of at least 26 lawmakers in a 50-seat chamber.
Observers expect China to have secretly supported more candidates than Sogavare in the election, to ensure the change in government does not diminish Beijing’s influence.
Sogavare could return to power again during the current four-year term. He was elected prime minister after the last elections in 2019. But he served as prime minister three times before 2019 because his predecessors resigned or were ousted by their fellow lawmakers in a precarious political system.
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