Pacific Islands Monthly

A Coalition Could Be The Recipe

For Solomons Political Hot-Pot

Prom a Honiara correspondent

From its outset, May seemed likely to be a controversial month in Solo mon Islands politics. As the poli ticians began the third meeting of the first session of the first Legislative Assembly, 150 students from the Solomons Teachers Training College went on strike following the impo sition of new conditions for students as recommended by the Education Policy Review Committee and en dorsed by parliament in a special sitting last January.

On Monday, April 28, the students marched from the college to the education offices—a long way in the dusty, early morning Honiara heat.

They were met by the Education Minister Stephen Cheka and Perma nent Secretary Francis Bugotu.

Neither was inclined to give much consideration to the students’ de mands for the abolition of fees (newly-introduced), for student pocket money and better food at the college. After an exchange of only a few minutes the students’ petition was rejected and the demonstrators dispersed.

Mr Cheka told the students that those who did not attend classes at 2 pm that day would be ex pelled immediately. Despite his strong stand, the students decided to defy the minister, and as a result 117 students were automatically expelled rom the college that afternoon.

Many of them returned to their lomes immediately.

It was left to Opposition parliamen arian Leslie Fugui to make political :apital on Cheka’s inability to negoti ite a less-drastic solution. The fol owmg night Fugui led an Opposition valk-out from the Legislative Assembly, which only failed to dis upt proceedings completely because if procedural peculiarities.

In any case, the assembly quickly djourned soon after allowing Chief Minister Solomon Mamaloni to inter ene in the dispute. With a close dviser he called at the teachers ollege that night to discuss the ituation with students and staff.

On the Wednesday morning the

assembly sitting was postponed while the Chief Minister, following an all night ordeal, worked out a solution to the conflict with the Council of Ministers and this was accepted by parliament early that afternoon.

The government agreed to “recon sider” the fees dispute and to examine other complaints which the students had put forward. The ex pulsion of the students was revoked and they were all urged to present themselves at the college for the beginning of the new term on May 19. In Mamaloni’s words, “a minor national crisis” had been prevented from becoming “a major national crisis”.

The students’ strike and the Opposition walk-out proved to be the main sparks in what otherwise looked like being a fairly routine parliamen tary meeting. Towards its end, there were signs that the Opposition was unhappy with some of the implica tions of the proposed 1975-79 De velopment Plan, which seemed likely to be approved.

Among other things the Opposition sought recognition that some of the ideas included in the plan originated with the Opposition party’s policy manifesto and were, originally, opposed by the governing party!

The possibility that the govern ment, led by the minority People’s Progressive Party (PPP), has de liberately sought to put the Oppo sition United Solomon Islands Party (USIPA) into disarray by adopting some of their policies is a high one.

Already two leading USIPA mem bers, Zoleveke and Solodia, have joined the government’s front bench and more might follow. Nine months after its formation, the Mamaloni government depends for survival on the support of five independent par liamentarians plus Solodia, who still claims to belong to USIPA! The PPP itself has only seven party members in the assembly, two fewer than the remaining USIPA members.

Undoubtedly, Mamaloni has played his numbers game well. From a de cidedly minority position, he has

been able to attract enough support from independent and USIPA mem bers to allow him a bare parliamen tary majority of 13 fairly safe votes —leaving USIPA with nine and two other independents. The composition of the Council of Ministers reflects Mamaloni’s political success: out of seven ministers two are independents and one is professedly USIPA. And, if USIPA back-benchers are to be believed, the government has taken to stealing not only the Opposition’s personnel but also its policies!

The tendency towards a formal all party government has been empha sised by the latest proposals for constitutional reform. The assembly set up a bi-partisan committee to consider urgent constitutional changes in the Solomons. The committee has completed its task and a delegation was due to leave Honiara on May 15 for London to make certain pro posals to the British Government.

Significantly, the delegation itself reflects different interest groups within the assembly: Mamaloni, Betu and Solodia (two non-PPP ministers), Wickham (USIPA), an adviser from the public service and a colonial ad ministrator (probably the governor or his deputy).

In effect, therefore, the talks are concerned with the progress of the Solomon Islands towards self government. The only real dispute between the Solomon Islanders and the British on this question concerns whether or not a timetable and definite dates for the transfer of power should be set.

The British believe that a clear schedule should be announced at an early opportunity. Mamaloni, on the other hand, learning the bitter lessons of Michael Somare’s experience next door in Papua New Guinea, opposes the announcement of a definite schedule and favours the de facto accomplishment of self-determined status prior to its announcement.

In fact, Mamaloni has already stated, in an interview published earlier this year in the government newspaper, The Solomons News Drum, that people may be “sur

prised” how quickly self-government is achieved—with the inference that it would some later this year. In this case independence could be an nounced during 1976.

But, if the rapid transfer of power in the Solomon Islands is a surprise to some, another effect of these de velopments may be to thrust the two parliamentary parties closer together.

After more than 18 months existence neither the PPP nor USIPA is much more than a paper party outside the Legislative Assembly—at best no more than a handful of the parlia mentary members’ constituents have any idea of what either party is about, or what affiliations their mem bers profess. Even within parliament it is not easy to pin down the allegi ances of some of the members, at least one-third of them having played fickle to one party or the other from time to time.

As a result of the informality of party politics, the parties’ joint par ticipation in a coalition government should be easier to achieve than might otherwise have been the case.

If two new ministers are to be ap pointed to the council the pressure on more USIPA members to join the government will be considerable.

Already some observers feel that the governing group’s resources have been stretched to the limit in finding seven assembly members competent enough to handle present executive responsibility. It seems very unlikely that Mamaloni can find two more supporters from his own ranks to take the additional chores.

From all this then, the chances are good that an expanded government team will emerge later this year, on present indications still under Mama loni’s leadership, based on a broader cross-section of interests than the present council. If this does happen, one effect might be to lessen the impact of the personality conflicts which have so influenced the assembly from its inception in 1973.

Honiara has also witnessed during the last few months an attempt to found a nationally-based trade union organisation. This attempt has been led by Bart Ulufa’alu, an economics graduate and one-time student presi dent at UPNG. Mamaloni may well have tamed his parliamentary op position! It remains to be seen how he will cope with the development of radical politics outside the Legis lative Assembly. • It was announced from London on May 21 that the Solomons de legation and British Government re presentatives had agreed on a self-rule date for the Solomons. A joint state ment issued at the end of the talks said the Solomons would have in dependance by the middle of 1977.