The Courier

Honiara market.

© Hegel Goutier

The Solomon Islands’ parliament passed on 13 December a motion of no confidence in the government, prompting the resignation of its leader, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare. A week later, his newly installed successor, Derek Sikua, was warmly welcomed by the international community and, above all, by Australia who agreed to step up cooperation, thus putting an end to the tension that has soured relations between the two countries. 
 
Most importantly, one of the new government leader’s first actions was to travel to Malaita to offer his apologies to the local population for “the offences and injustices” perpetrated against them during the recent ethnic conflicts. Disputes between natives of this province and the inhabitants of the island of Guadalcanal were mainly responsible for plunging the country into a protracted crisis that began in the early 1990s. Derek Sikua’s call for a major reconciliation effort was accompanied by a request for negotiations with the Malaita Province executive in order to get major development projects back on track, including the Aulauta palm oil project, long-awaited on the island.

The notion of ‘wantok’

When The Courier visited the Solomon Islands a few months ago, former Prime Minister Sogavare (still in office at the time) strongly emphasised the bitterness of his government’s relations with Australia – insinuating that the country was seeking to impose solutions which took no account of the culture and customs of the Solomon Islands. 

It is important to understand how the situation in the Solomons has come about: the notion of wantok (literally ‘one talk’). Wantok refers to those who speak the same language and thus of the same clan. This means a duty of solidarity to fellow clan members often up to the boundaries of what’s lawful. This notion is deeply rooted in the Melanesian culture of most of the inhabitants of the Solomon Islands. What’s more, the dozen or so islands that make up this country – which only came together as one nation with independence – are inhabited by many different clans, many of whom are historically antagonistic towards one another. About 70 languages are spoken by the country’s estimated 540,000 population, with each language totally different from another. 

The process of unification only really started during the Second World War, when the region (and Guadalcanal in particular) was the epicentre of one of the most dramatic and decisive clashes between Japanese and US forces. Here the Japanese finally lost the war and it was the huts at the Honiara military airport that formed the basis of the future capital, Honiara. Together with the other islands grouped around Guadalcanal, the state of the Solomon Islands was formed, despite having no real shared history, and was granted independence from the United Kingdom in 1978.

The wantok practiced by politicians in positions of power has often been viewed by donor countries as a symbol of bad governance, which helps to explain some misunderstandings, if not serious tensions. 

Repeated troubles

Tensions between the Malaitans and the population of Guadalcanal quickly marked the short history of the new state. To put this into context, the population density on Malaita is relatively high but economic opportunities are relatively low compared to neighbouring Guadalcanal, which is the seat of political power and where a large part of the Malaita population emigrated. 

The first major troubles date back to the late 1990s and originate in conflicts between the inhabitants of Malaita who had settled in the province of Guadalcanal and the local indigenous population. The Gwale people of Guadalcanal, the most prosperous of the Solomon Islands, started to protest strongly at what they considered to be an invasion by people from other islands (especially Malaita), accusing them not only of stealing their land but also their jobs. Paramilitary groups were formed. The first of these was the Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army (GRA) which intimidated the Malaitan ‘immigrants’, forcing them to flee the rural areas in their thousands, to either the capital or their place of origin. In response to the intimidation by this group of extreme nationalists the Malaitan Eagle Force created in June 2000, staged what amounted to a coup d’etat when they seized the prime minister. This in turn gave rise to a new Gwale paramilitary group, the Isatabu Freedom Fighters (replacing the GRA), who assassinated a member of the new government. The resulting violence in the country cost hundreds of lives.

Two successive peace agreements between the warring parties produced no lasting solutions and in April 2000 further conflict erupted in the Western Province. The background to this latest crisis was the unsustainable exploitation of the forests by foreign (principally Asian) companies who – in addition to their impact on the environment, the economy and good governance – also affected the country’s culture and customs. On several of the region’s islands (including Guadalcanal) land ownership is traditionally handed down among the women of the family. The logging companies were however accused of conducting irregular transactions with some of the village officials and dispossessing women. This sparked a series of mass demonstrations by the female population, who were also reportedly the victims of violence at the hands of private security guards employed on some of the plantations. Explaining the situation to The Courier, Ella Kauhue, Secretary General of the National Council of Women, noted that “in Guadalcanal for instance, there is matrilineal rule. Women own the land. But often, when they allow foreigners to come, women don’t participate in the decision, so the men receive huge amounts of money. They travel, spend the money and then go back to the village.”

In April 2003, the Pacific Island States decided, within the framework of the Biketawa Declaration*, to send a policing mission to the Solomon Islands – RAMSI (Regional Assistance to the Solomon Islands) – under the command of Australia who supplied 80 per cent of the manpower, with units from New Zealand and other Pacific islands also contributing and Australia funding the units from Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

RAMSI managed to restore order, despite sporadic troubles. However, after elections that passed off relatively peacefully in 2006, the prime minister – elected with a large majority based on the country’s three principal parties – was forced to resign following several days of rioting. Accusations of links with corruption were levelled against the prime minister. Asian business concerns particularly the Taiwanese. Particular anger was directed at Asian businesses active in forest management, particularly the Taiwanese, were singled out. During these riots Honiara’s Chinatown among other places, was destroyed.

A new prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare (who was still in office when The Courier visited) seemed to meet with the rioter’s approval and was elected. However, his relations with some sections of the international community (particularly Australia) were very strained. The main reason for this was his appointment to government of two figures who were accused of involvement in organising the riots. The European Union disapproval came in a statement published in May 2006. Under international pressure, these appointments were finally overturned but relations with Australia remained acrimonious due to other contested appointments. Mr Sogavare had previously been prime minister in the wake of a coup d’etat in 2000 until December 2001.

On 13 December, a no-confidence vote in parliament forced Sogavare to resign and on 20 December he was replaced by Derek Sikua. Sogavare is now opposition leader. Rarely since the 1999 crisis has a change of government been so peaceful and violence-free in both the towns and surrounding countryside. For the new prime minister and his government, this is a sign that the democratic institutions have gained in strength: “the recent political leadership crisis has demonstrated the strength of our fundamental democratic institutions to ensure a just and democratic outcome.”

Indeed, since the arrival of the RAMSI forces, the rules of democracy have been respected but often in a volatile atmosphere and fairly serious unrest. This does not bode well for a total resolution of the crisis and the eventual departure of the RAMSI forces. Nevertheless, many people saw the applause of the crowds on Malaita for the new prime minister as a sign of the beginning of genuine national reconciliation. It is to be hoped that the present détente is not followed by further prevarication and hiccups on the road to democracy.

* The Biketawa Declaration, adopted in October 2000, by the Pacific Islands Forum, laid the basis for a coordinated response to regional crisis.