The Parliament of the Solomon Islands elected the former foreign minister Jeremiah Manele as the country's prime minister, reported Kyodo and France Press, quoted by BTA.
Manele is expected to continue the pro-China policies of former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, whose government cut ties with Taiwan in 2019 and established diplomatic relations with China. In 2022, he also signed a controversial security agreement with the Asian giant.
On Monday, Sogavare announced that he was withdrawing from the race for the prime ministership after the April 17 election. Instead, Manele was announced as the candidate of the ruling party, Kyodo recalls.
The former top diplomat won 31 of the 50 votes cast in the secret ballot, Governor-General David Wunagy said. His rival, opposition leader Matthew Weil, who opposes Beijing, received 18 votes in his favor.
"The people have spoken", Manele said, hailing the fact that the elections were held without violence: "Today we showed the world that we are better than this.
In the Solomon Islands, a country of about 720,000 people, elections are often tumultuous. In 2000, Prime Minister Bart Olufa'alu was forced to resign after being kidnapped by angry gunmen, and in 2006 international peacekeeping forces were sent to quell post-election violence, AFP recalls.< /p>