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HONOLULU (Apr. 19) — Australian troops reportedly arrived Wednesday in the smoldering capital of the Solomon Islands after riots in the streets of Honiara and the burning of a large section of its Chinatown district Tuesday (Apr. 18).
The violence, in which more than 20 Australian and local police and military personnel were reportedly injured erupted after the announcement that outgoing Prime Minister Allan Kemakeza’s former deputy, Snyder Rini, will replace him as the government’s leader.
According to The Associated Press, Australian Prime Minister John Howard ordered 110 soldiers and 70 Australian Federal Police officers flown in to help restore order. The first soldiers arrived by military transport wearing combat fatigues.
But according to East-West Center research fellow Tarcisius Tara Kabutaulaka, the arrival of the new peacekeepers bears little resemblance to the last mission of foreign troops in the Solomons.
“These protests and the subsequent rioting and looting has little to do with the social unrest of 1998 to 2003 and more with concerns about the processes of selecting a prime minister and the alleged involvement of business interests in the formation of government,” the East-West Center fellow said.
Kabutaulaka, a Solomon Islander currently with the East-West Center’s Pacific Islands Development Program in Honolulu, said current problems show a need for greater transparency in government.
“While the deployment of Australian soldiers to restore law and order is welcomed, in the longer term there is a need to put in place statutory regulations to ensure that the selection of prime minister and the subsequent formation of governments are transparent,” he said.
According to the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corp. (SIBC), Solomon Islands Police Commissioner Shane Castles said three mobs of up to 300 people each formed before riots broke out in the town Tuesday. He said a “substantial number” of Honiara businesses suffered damage and flames could still be seen over the town Tuesday night (Apr. 18).
The arrival of Australian troops follows the evacuation of more than 100 guests from the Pacific Casino Hotel where police were reportedly called in the early hours Wednesday to hold off a mob that had set the hotel on fire. The fire was put out but guests were sent to a safer location, according to radio reports.
Sources at the Solomon Star daily newspaper Wednesday said 90 percent of the Chinatown district of Honiara was destroyed by fires lit by the angry mobs. The Star, which is located in the district, was unable to print Wednesday because of damage to utilities in the area. SIBC reports that at least 10 Chinatown buildings were destroyed and that smoke continued to hang over the town.
Meanwhile, few new faces are expected to appear in the 20-member cabinet of newly elected Solomon Islands Prime Minister Snyder Rini, who was to announce his lineup Wednesday despite the rioting after his closed-door selection. Rini said at a press conference Tuesday (Apr. 18) he planned no major cabinet changes.
Rini, among those seeking refuge in the parliament building, appealed for calm.
The President of the Malaita Maasina Forum, Hudson Kwalea, also called for Malaitans in Honiara to be calm and not to take the law into their own hands.
In the summer of 2003, Australia led a military force of about 2,000 to quell lawlessness in the Solomons. The islands nation had been terrorized by murderous gangs and plagued by corruption. The peacekeeping force succeeded in restoring order and gradually was scaled down in number.
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This report was compiled by the East-West Center’s Pacific Islands Report. For more information please contact Peter Wagner at (808) 944-7608 or via email at Wagnerp@eastwestcenter.org . The Pacific Islands Report can be found at www.pireport.org
For links to all East-West Center media programs, fellowships and services, see www.eastwestcenter.org/journalists