But in the Solomon Islands at least, a concerted registration drive earlier this year has helped to tidy up the roll, with ‘place of residence’ being the remaining contentious issue. It is common for people to register in their home village, rather than their current residence. This is a significant issue for many Malaitans who now live and work in the capital Honiara, located in the neighbouring province of Guadalcanal.
Without any provisions for absentee or pre-poll voting, citizens often have to make their way back to their home village to vote. In the days leading up to Election Day, boatloads of people depart Honiara, often getting fare assistance from helpful candidates. Candidates are also expected to provide food, and Honiara suffered a rice shortage prior to the election as some candidates shipped provisions to the outer provinces.
Under the Solomons’ first-past-the-post voting system, there were a few surprises among the 50 constituencies, including John Moffat Fugui winning the hotly-contested Central Honiara seat, and the defeat of Deputy Prime Minister Fred Fono in his Central Kwara’ae constituency. As in past elections, there was a high turnover of MPs, with 21 sitting members losing their seats. Despite MPs having access to significant discretionary funds (the Rural Constituency Development Funds), this does not appear to have translated into an incumbency benefit, with the perception that RCDF money was misused.
The National Council of Women had put together a strong campaign to get women elected to the parliament, which has been men-only since 2001. In the end, though, none of the 25 women candidates were successful, and this is expected to generate a renewed push for reserved seats, as has happened in Bougainville, and is currently being proposed for Papua New Guinea. In the meantime, the Solomon Islands remains one of only nine countries in the world with no women in their national parliament.
After 2006, violence was always a possibility. Fortunately, the increased RAMSI presence was rarely called upon, with one notable exception being an incident a week after the general election, when RAMSI officers fired into an agitated crowd, killing one person. During the election itself, the only significant episode occurred in Malaita province. In Auki, an angry mob unhappy with how the count was progressing demanded a ballot box from an electoral official. To avoid further confrontation, the ballot box was handed over and subsequently burnt.
The election for Prime Minister was held three weeks after the general election. There were only two candidates, with Danny Philip defeating Steve Abana 26-23 (one informal vote). Philip is an experienced politician, having been in parliament for 17 years from 1984 to 2001, including two short periods as foreign minister.
Given the fluidity of Solomon Islands politics and the lack of a cohesive party system, it will be interesting to see if these government/opposition groupings remain solid. In the past, there has been a tendency for opposition members to switch to the government in search of ministerial positions or other benefits, destabilising the government and the prime minister in the fledgling island democracy.
Norm Kelly is an Associate at the ANU’s Centre for Democratic Institutions. He was funded by CDI and the US East-West Center to observe this year’s Solomon Islands and Bougainville elections, and is writing a policy paper for CDI on their electoral systems, to be released later this year.