Politics in the Solomon Islands got a little more interesting this week as more than half of the elected Members of Parliament are slapped with election petitions that could see them lose their seats within a year.
On Monday, the High Court of Solomon Islands confirmed that up to 29 election petitions were received at the close of the accepted petition period following elections on April 3rd. From the list released by the High Court, the highest number of petitions were on Malaita which saw 12 out the 14 MPs being served. Guadalcanal and Western Province had four each, Choiseul and Central with two each and Honiara with three. The other provinces of Temotu and Makira had 1, while Isabel and Rennell and Bellona had no petition filed. Those that were handed petitions included the Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare for his East Choiseul seat.
The number of petitions were a hike from the 2014 National General Elections which saw 15 election petitions. Out of the 15 only two were successful in ousting a sitting Member of Parliament. Electoral petitions have been a common response by losing candidates in National General Elections and the often slow process in getting them through the court system and the lack of clarity on what constitutes an electoral offence has been a challenge. The slow process in getting decisions on electoral petitions were evident in the two successful petitions for the seats of Gizo/Kolombangara and Temotu Vatud which was only decided four years after the electins of 2014 were held. It is the time and cost factor that has failed to see a lot of election petitions through in the years up to the 2014 elections.
With the introduction of the new electoral reform act in 2017, it has enabled a clause to ensure that election petitions are heard within one year of elections. It also has provided more clarity on what constitutes an electoral offence. Most petitions in the past were on the basis of election eve related bribery perceived to be carried out by election candidates or their agents in order to influence votes. In Solomon Islands politics, there is a very thin line between defining bribery and cultural obligation of gifting, an act whereby a person can earn status or support through helping people through material gifts or kind. While it can be legally termed as bribing, the art of sharing material gift and cash during election campaigns have long been accepted by ordinary Solomon Islanders as the yardstick for election votes.
With the record number of petitions in this last elections, the question that everyone is asking is, is it safe to say that the recent National General Election was the most corrupt in the history of elections in the Solomon Islands? Or is it through the availability of a new set of law that has enabled people to see how they can hold their leaders accountable. The past two National General Elections in the Solomon Islands have seen a low turnover rate, as majority of MPs return. A likely reason for this could be the large amount of funds MPs have at their disposal which are often used to cement support rather than develop their constituencies. This was in sharp contrast to elections prior to the ethnic crisis where there was always a high turnover of above 50 percent. It is therefore important to note the difference in election turnover rates to the recent trend of accumulating funds under the control of Members of Parliament.
With the new electoral act stating that election petitions be heard within a year of submission it will be interesting how the court system handles the cases given its list constrains including lack of courtrooms and judges. It will however be a chance to test the new electoral act, and to send a statement that being elected into Parliament must be free from vote buying and other forms of influence.
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| Brian Lezutuni | May 21, 2019, 2:13 PM (23 hours ago) | ||
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Brian 