RAMSI soldiers patrolling the streets of Honiara, Solomon Islands. (Photo by Jason Dorday, and courtesy of Scoop.co.nz.)

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By PMC Newsdesk.

Newly elected Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Hon. Danny Philip, has pledged to work closely with the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) to ensure his nation continues its progress toward a stable society.

The Solomon Islands held a general election in early August that saw Danny Philip emerge as a likely replacement to Dr Derek Sikua. Philip succeeded in taking over yesterday after weeks of number counting among his political peers.

Sikua urged the new Prime Minister to continue with the programmes he had set in train.

The Solomon Star reported Sikua’s advice was to ensure peace and stability reigned in the Solomons.

In the Solomon Star, Dr Sikua said: “The pressing issues that face our nation at this crucial time of our history is common knowledge to all of us.

“The events of the ethnic unrest and April 2006 reflects the deeper undercurrents that our new government must seek to find solutions to.

“I hope they will carry on the business of governing with a view to redirecting the course of this nation to the goals we have set ourselves,” he said.

RAMSI represents military and police force personnel from around the Pacific Region. The mission was deployed to the Solomons in 2003 and continues to ensure ethnic and inter-island division is not able to destabilise the country, nor cause it to return to a state of civil and governmental unrest that plagued the Solomons prior to 2003.

In April 2006 inter island rivalries spilled out into violence when many from Malaita clashed with others from Guadalcanal. The unrest saw commercial and private buildings torched in Honiara.

Order was restored with the rise in popularity of Manasseh Sogavare who advanced a nationalistic vision for the Solomon Islands. He became prime minister from 2006 through to late 2007. Sogavare’s intention was to restore autonomous authority to the Solomon Islands government and render RAMSI less dominant in the nation. His turbulent reign ended in 2007 when Derek Sikua stepped forward as a more Australia-friendly leader.

In a statement overnight, RAMSI special coordinator Graeme Wilson said: “We believe that Solomon Islands can have a bright future and would like to work closely with the new government to contribute to that goal.”

Mr Wilson welcomed the Prime Minister’s assurance that he wanted to work with RAMSI.

The general election on August 4 returned an unclear outcome. Eventually Danny Philip won the parliamentary vote after pulling together a coalition that had the numbers (ahead of his political rival Steve Abana) to assert control of the treasury benches.

The RAMSI head noted that the Solomons has a lot of work ahead to ensure stability is able to be sustained.

Key to maintaining stability is a plan for constitutional reform that will see more autonomy passed on to the Solomons’ outer regions.

Danny Philip told the Solomon Star last night that his government will continue to work toward that goal

Philip said: “Whatever approach we take in terms of power sharing and decentralisation, must not lead to over-burdening of our nation with huge public sector expenses. At the same time we need to take cognisance of the cry by some of our provinces for more autonomy. My government will be committed to developing a sensible policy on federalism which will take into account the conflicting demands by our people.”

RAMSI statement follows:

RAMSI Special Coordinator, Graeme Wilson, today congratulated the Hon. Danny Philip, on his election as Prime Minister and pledged to work closely with the new government.

“RAMSI stands ready to work with the new government in a spirit of true partnership,” Mr Wilson said.

“We believe that Solomon Islands can have a bright future and would like to work closely with the new government to contribute to that goal.”

Mr Wilson welcomed the Prime Minister’s assurance that he wanted to work with RAMSI.

“We have every confidence that, through close dialogue and consultation, we can build a genuine and constructive partnership with the new government that will serve Solomon Islands best interests.”

“As a nation, Solomon Islands still faces many challenges and there is much hard work to be done,” the Special Coordinator said.

“Those challenges include helping the economy to grow, continuing the work of fostering reconciliation and peace between various communities, and restoring the people’s faith in government through a more open and transparent system, as well as working to reduce corruption.”

“RAMSI looks forward to playing an appropriate role in supporting the new government’s efforts to deal with these challenges.”

“I look forward to meeting with Prime Minister Philip and his cabinet to learn more about their plans and priorities.”

Mr Wilson said he also wished to congratulate all members of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) and RAMSI’s police and military contingents who had supported the RSIPF during the recent election period.

“Over the past six weeks, these men and women displayed great professionalism and dedication, working long, hard hours to make sure there was a safe and secure environment for Solomon Islands democratic processes to proceed unhindered.”