The Solomon Islands Democratic Party is a political party in Solomon Islands. In a country in which political parties tend to be small and transient, and to obtain very few seats in Parliament, the Democratic Party has played a comparatively major role in recent history.

History

Gabriel Suri, a lawyer, founded the party in October 2005. It was to focus on "ethical leadership" for the country. Its general secretary, John Keniapisia, described that as a leadership founded on a relationship with

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

: "Political leadership is about nation building. Political leadership is also about God's calling for men & women to be involved in Kingdom building, here on earth, knowing that everything we do is a calling from God. Therefore we are answerable to Him. Our focus must be on things of eternal value. In everything we do, we must intent on doing it for the glory of God". The Democratic Party would also promote "indigenous rule", ensuring indigenous "control over the destiny of the country" and empowering "traditional decision making process s."Democratic Party"
, Pacific Institute of Public Policy In the April 2006 general election, the party just obtained just three seats (out of fifty) in the

National Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, with 4.9% of the vote. Nonetheless, when newly elected Prime Minister

Snyder Rini Snyder Rini (born 27 July 1948Rini CV at Parliament website
) is a

vote of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

, the Democrats joined

Manasseh Sogavare Manasseh Damukana Sogavare (born 17 January 1955) is the sixth and current Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, serving since 24 April 2019. He previously held the office in 2000–2001, 2006—2007 and 2014–2017; in all he has served over ni ...

's Grand Coalition for Change Government. In November 2007, the Democrats withdrew their support from Sogavare, supporting a successful motion of no confidence to oust him, and became a key part of new Prime Minister

Derek Sikua David Derek Sikua (born 10 October 1959Sikua CV at Parliament website
) served as th ...

's Coalition for National Unity and Rural Advancement government. The party gained a fourth member when it was joined by a sitting MP."Democratic Party launches roadmap"
, ''Island Sun'', 8 June 2010 Subsequent floor-crossing brought its number of MPs up to at least six. In government under Sikua, the party was described as "instrumental" in ensuring the introduction of "significant reforms such as the Political Party Reform Bills, the establishment of the

Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state act ...

, and the establishment of the taskforce team to undertake study for creation of an Independent Commission Against Corruption". The party's general secretary, John Keniapisia, stated in 2009 that one of its main objectives were to "push for the country to develop a stronger relationship with God"."Democratic Party Prepares for 2010 Elections"
''Solomon Times'', 15 July 2009 He also supported the

Political Parties Integrity Bill Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...

, in the name of "political stability". Leading the Democrats into the August 2010 general election, party leader

Steve Abana Steve William Abana (born 1969 in Fourau, MalaitaBiography
on the website of the Parliament of Solomon Is ...

campaigned on a promise of "more recognition to tribal landowners by registering all tribal lands in the name of tribes"; "the implementation of a National Adaptation Plan to

address climate change Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases or removing those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global average temperature is mostly caused by emissions from fossil fuels b ...

for the most vulnerable communities; a focus to improve the standard of living in villages consistent with the

Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millenniu ...

"; a pledge "to ensure that 80 percent of energy in the country be produced from

renewable resources A renewable resource, also known as a flow resource, is a natural resource which will replenish to replace the portion depleted by usage and consumption, either through natural reproduction or other recurring processes in a finite amount of ti ...

"; and electoral reform to introduce

preferential voting {{short description, Election systems Preferential voting or preference voting (PV) may refer to different election systems or groups of election systems: * Ranked voting methods, all election methods that involve ranking candidates in order of pr ...

. The party's platform also included "push ngfor the development of a national university based on

Malaita Malaita is the primary island of Malaita Province in Solomon Islands. Malaita is the most populous island of the Solomon Islands, with a population of 161,832 as of 2021, or more than a third of the entire national population. It is also the se ...

", and developing economic and trade relations with the People's Republic of China, without departing from the country's diplomatic recognition of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

(

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

). In the 2010 election, the Democratic Party became by far the largest single party in Parliament, winning thirteen seats out of fifty. (No other party obtained more than three seats.) Democratic MP and leader

Steve Abana Steve William Abana (born 1969 in Fourau, MalaitaBiography
on the website of the Parliament of Solomon Is ...

then sought to be elected

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

by his peers. He succeeded in obtaining the votes of 23 MPs, but was defeated by

Danny Philip Danny Philip (born 5 August 1953) is a politician and diplomat from Solomon Islands. He was Prime Minister of Solomon Islands from 2010 to 2011. Previously he served as Foreign minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996 and again fro ...

(of the People's Progressive Party), who was elected with 26. Four days later, on 31 August, Abana officially became Leader of the Opposition, and appointed a Shadow Cabinet, in which Democrats held ten of the nineteen Shadow Ministries. Two other Democrats, however, had already defected to the government, obtaining positions in Prime Minister Philip's Cabinet; they were later joined by

Stanley Sofu Stanley Festus Sofu (born 1964 in Fataolo Village, Malaita ProvinceBiography
on the website of the Par ...

, who had been Abana's Shadow Minister for Infrastructure Development, but who accepted a position as Minister for Public Service. Thus, of the Democratic Party's thirteen MPs, nine were Shadow Ministers, two were Ministers, and the other two were

backbenchers In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

. The party's National Executive during the lead-up to the 2010 election consisted in President John Ini Lapli, Vice-President Dr. Alice Pollard, Treasurer Gideon Zoleveke (Jnr), general secretary John Keniapisia and Party Leader Steve Abana. In November 2011, the party renewed its leadership. Mathew Wale became party leader, while Dr. Alice Pollard became party president. At this stage, the party was still officially in Parliament, but had experienced "the defection of almost three-quarters" of its parliamentary members (including Steve Abana) to the government benches."SI democratic party has a new executive"
, ''Solomon Star'', 25 November 2011

References

{{Solomon Islands political parties Political parties in the Solomon Islands Political parties established in 2005 2005 establishments in the Solomon Islands