No-confidence motion sees Solomon Islands prime minister voted out of office

Andrew Mathieson
Andrew Mathieson Published May 8, 2026 at 12.00pm (AWST)

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele has been ousted from power following a no-confidence motion on Thursday.

Members of the Melanesian nation's parliament removed Mr Manele 26 votes to 22 in Honiara in a vote which excluded two absent MPs in the 50-seat assembly.

The new government bloc among current opposition MPs are yet to identify a leader, however the new Prime Minister will likely come from an emerging coalition of multiple parties.

Mr Manele will remain in office to perform nominal duties, despite parliament being adjourned until Governor-General Sir David Tiva Kapu officially removes the 13th leader of the Solomon Islands' post-colonial era.

The third challenge to Mr Manele's leadership ended his tenure as PM — amid surviving a previous no confidence motion 13 months earlier — nearly two months after the initial walk out by six government cabinet ministers and five government backbenchers who crossed the floor to leave a minority National Unity coalition government.

A fiery six-hour debate took place on Tuesday before the vote was taken to dump the softly spoken, one-time diplomat, who succeeded the country's leadership from firebrand Manasseh Sogavare.

"Loyalty is a valuable currency," Mr Manele said in parliament amid his final address on Friday.

Mr Manele's government, directed by the Ownership, Unity and Responsibility (OUR) party, was accused of corruption and bribery in recent months, a claim the Prime Minister staunchly denied.

The former PM had attempted to prevent the no-confidence motion being carried out in April through the High Court. The move almost led to a constitutional crisis until the Court of Appeal issued an order to recall parliament last week.

Mr Manele did so reluctantly while warning the parliament of the dangers of taking democracy out of the hands of an elected government.

"(The Court of Appeal) decision, with the greatest respect to the court, risks cementing instability into our constitutional arrangements," Mr Manele said.

"It creates a pathway where any group of members, who are unhappy with the government of the day, can combine a motion of no confidence with court proceedings and then ask the judiciary to intervene in the timing and program of parliament."

While accepting his fate, Mr Manele also called on his political adversaries from the Government of National Unity and Transformation (GNUT) alliance which walked away to explain their withdrawal of support.

"The people of this country deserve to know the reasons behind this motion of no-confidence," Mr Manele said.

"I know numerical strength is on that side, (but) this is a democracy - our people deserves to know what are(sic) the reasons behind this motion."

Mr Manele had made a last-ditch attempt to lure opposition MPs to switch sides before the vote and join the National Unity government, suggesting he was "willing to accommodate any political party in forming a new government".

"We are willing to make that sacrifice so that the work that we have done over the past couple of years can continue our people and their needs," he said.

The move came after Opposition MPs accused Mr Manele's staff of targeting with individual cash offers of greater than $A5,000.

Peoples First Party leader Frederick Kologeto had earlier called on the Prime Minister to resign first before the parliament took a vote.

"I have accepted this responsibility, not out of personal ambition, but on behalf of a majority of members who stand united with me today," he said.

"Party room negotiations and dialogues ... proved to be futile.

"They were not only unhelpful - they were strategically unproductive."

Mr Kologeto later told media nearly all MPs outside of Mr Manele's own party had simply lost "trust within the government".

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National Indigenous Times

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