Solomon Islands is an internal matter, says regional chief

Australia should not send police or troops to the Solomon Islands, the leader of the nation’s most populous province has pleaded.

Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani.

Australia should not send police or troops to the Solomon Islands even though local authorities are unable to control the violence ­engulfing the capital, Honiara, the leader of the nation’s most populous province has pleaded.

Daniel Suidani, the Premier of the Solomon Islands’ province of Malaita, told The Australian he could not predict how his people would react to the arrival of an outside peacekeeping force “because we didn’t expect such a thing to occur”.

“Sending the Australian police is not a good way to address the situation … because this is an ­internal matter,” Mr Suidani said.

For the past two years, Malaita has been in open rebellion against the national government’s decision to sever its longstanding diplomatic ties with Taiwan and cash in on Beijing’s political and economic ambitions in the region.

“One thing I am trying to avoid is the Chinese Communist Party coming into the province – that is an issue as well,” Mr Suidani said.

The China issue, and longstanding demands for more independence for the province, are among several grievances expressed by citizens of Malaita, many of whom are among those who arrived in Honiara to demand answers from Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.

According to Mr Suidani, the main grievance of Malaitans is the central government’s failure to live up to the Townsville Peace Agreement signed 21 years ago, which provided for a form of self-autonomy for both Malaita and Guadalcanal.

“Our people from Malaita and Guadalcanal were trying to get their petition to the Prime Minister but he refused to come out and receive it from them,” he said.

“Requesting another intervention from Australia is just avoiding the issue; it is not quite right,” he said.

Mr Suidani acknowledged that local police were not able to control the disturbances. But he said the only answer was for Mr Sogavare to resign, or address the issues. “He cannot hide away – a leader must listen to the people,” he said.

Mr Suidani said he did not plan to travel to Honiara while the disturbances were taking place but was in contact with members of the government and was calling on the Prime Minister to resign.

Mr Suidani’s anti-China stance has reignited deep-seated ethnic and cultural tensions in the Solomon Islands that gave way to a prolonged period of civil unrest between 1998 and 2003, while his critics in the country’s national cabinet have accused him of exploiting the issue to fuel separatist sentiment within Malaita.