Stanley Festus Sofu (born 1964 in Fataolo Village,
Malaita Province
Malaita Province is the most populous and one of the largest of the nine provinces of Solomon Islands. It is named after its largest island, Malaita (also known as "Big Malaita" or "Maramapaina"). Other islands include South Malaita Island ...
Biography on the website of the Parliament of Solomon Islands) is a
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...
politician.
He attended the Honiara Technical Institute from 1981 to 1985, followed by management courses, before working as a heavy plant mechanic. He then obtained a position as a works officer, and eventually as principal works officer, before going into politics. He began his political career as a member of the Provincial Assembly of Malaita Province, becoming Deputy Premier and Education Minister for the Province, before moving on to national politics.
His career in national politics began when he was elected to
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
motion 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 ...
in May, the new Prime Minister,
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 ...
, appointed Sofu to
Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
as Minister for Infrastructure and Development. In November 2007, Sofu joined the Opposition and left the Cabinet, but regained a Cabinet position when Sogavare's government was ousted by a motion of no confidence in December. Sogavare's successor,
, returned Sofu to his post as Minister for Infrastructure and Development, which he then held until August 2010.
He retained his seat in Parliament in the August 2010 general election. As a member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
, led by Opposition Leader
Steve Abana
Steve William Abana (born 1969 in Fourau, MalaitaBiography on the website of the Parliament of Solomon Is ...
, he served initially as an Opposition
frontbencher
In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kno ...
; Abana appointed him Shadow Minister for Infrastructure Development. In December, however, in a Cabinet reshuffle prompted by the sacking of two ministers, Sofu defected to the government and was promoted to Cabinet as Minister for Public Service. The following month, he defected back to the Opposition, two days after four other ministers had moved to the Opposition. On February 20, he defected to the government once more, following four other MPs who had moved from the Opposition to the government in the preceding days. He was restored to his position as Minister for Public Service.
On April 18, Philip removed him from Cabinet in a reshuffle to make way for five Opposition members who had just joined the government ranks. Sofu was succeeded by Ricky Houeniopwela, who like him was formally aligned with the Democratic Party.
When
Gordon Darcy Lilo
Gordon Darcy Lilo (born 28 August 1965) is a Solomon Islander politician who served as Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands from 16 November 2011 to 9 December 2014. He was a member of the National Parliament of the Solomon Islands, representing ...
became Prime Minister in November 2011, Sofu sat on the government
backbench
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 " ...
es. On 22 October 2012, he was promoted to the position of Minister for Public Service, as part of a Cabinet reshuffle."Ministers Fired and Replaced" ''Solomon Times'', 23 October 2012