Rioters squaring off with Police on the main kukum highway in Honiara: Pic (Gino Oti)
The riots that erupted in Honiara on Wednesday 24th April following the election of the Prime Minister was more of an opportunistic venture by youths to steal and destroy rather than anger motivated by political ambitions.
Group of youths, mainly from the squatter settlements along the fringes of Honiara went on a rampage following announcement that veteran Politician, Manasseh Sogavare was elected Prime Minister for a record fourth term. Many see his win as continuation of the old guard, one that has not done much to lift the country from its economic and social woes.
Honiara is teeming with unemployment. In fact the Solomon Islands in general has one of the highest unemployment rate in the world. 82 percent of the country’s youths are unemployed and most find their way to Honiara in the hope of getting employment. This fact alone did not go unnoticed when former New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark visited the country last year, where she warned the Government that the country faces a ‘time bomb’ and must act now and rethink how its aid programme was structured and put more focus on agriculture.(https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/365629/solomons-faces-time-bomb-with-youth-unemployment-helen-clark)
Much of the talk leading up to the National General Elections and the subsequent election of the Prime Minister was focused on ‘change’. Many social media commentators linked the riots to the desire in people to see change. Much of the desire for change was to some extent was inspired by the messages of hope delivered to young people by Peter Kenilorea Junior, the son of the country’s first Prime Minister who gave up his lucrative job at the United Nations in New York to contest the National General Election for the East Are’ Are constituency. He won by a landslide and for a moment youths mobilized around his persona on social media by sharing hashtags #PKJ for Prime Minister. While it looked certain he would be a contestant for the Prime Minister position, it was decided within his political grouping that former Politician, Matthew Wale would be more of a Prime Ministerial candidate. Even though the coalition represented by Wale was looked upon as the agent for change, it was highly unlikely as much of its make-up also consists of old MPs who might have the influence to drag the country back to the status quo it continuous to face.
While the country is in dire need of change, the only obstacle to change is the people themselves. With such high unemployment rate, the continuous dilapidated state of medical and other infrastructure facilities, people are still voting in old politicians who continue to enrich themselves than better the lives of the people. Out of the 50 politicians that run for the National General elections early this month, only 14 were new ones. As Australian Academic, Terence Wood puts it, real change in the Solomon Islands requires 26 new seats in Parliament.
(http://www.devpolicy.org/development-and-2019-elections-solomon-islands-20190423/)
The onus now is on the Government elect to show more interest in issues of national governance. Put in place policies that are workable as from past experiences many national projects have not materialized despite millions of dollars being spent on getting it through negotiations and the initial planning stage. The country and especially, Honiara has seen unrest and chaos since the turn of the last century. Creating jobs and improving the lives of Solomon Islanders should be the focus going forward or we would only continue to see the events of last Wednesday repeat itself over the coming years.
Australian Police officers stand guard over an arrested rioter. Pic (Gino Oti)
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Brian 