The United Solomon Islands Party (USIP or USIPA) was a political party in the

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 capit ...

History

USIP was formed in August 1973 following the 1973 elections by fourteen of the twenty-four members of the Governing Council.The Solomons will have one-party government
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', January 1974, p10 Benedit Kinika was elected chair of the new party, with Gideon Zoloveke as his deputy and

Ashley Wickham Ashley is a place name derived from the Old English words '' æsc'' (“ash”) and '' lēah'' (“meadow”). It may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ashley (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

as party secretary.Flexible idealists in the Solomons
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', September 1973, p8 The fourteen were former civil servants who wanted self-government as soon as possible and for more Solomon Islanders to be employed in the civil service. At the end of 1973, agreement was reached between members of USIP and conservative independents to create a single party encompassing all elected members. However, the party was revived in April 1974, although it had been reduced in its membership. In the same year, the Governing Council was transformed into the Legislative Assembly and an election was arranged for the position of Chief Minister. Kinika was defeated by

Solomon Mamaloni Solomon Sunaone Mamaloni (23 January 1943 – 11 January 2000) was a Solomon Islands politician. He was the first Chief Minister of the islands, and later served as Prime Minister for three spells in the 1980s and 1990s. Biography Mamaloni was ...

of the rival People's Progressive Party, who became the Islands' first Chief Minister and formed a cabinet of PPP and independent members;Roland Rich, Luke Hambly & Michael G Morgan (2008)
Political Parties in the Pacific Islands
', ANU E Press, p106 Kinika subsequently resigned as USIP leader and was replaced by Philip Funifaka. Mamaloni resigned in November 1975 after an inquiry into action taken without consulting his cabinet, and when he was re-elected in December he formed a cabinet with five USIP members (including Funifuka), two from the PPP and one independent. Following the formation of the new government and prior to the 1976 general elections, USIP and the PPP both disintegrated,Pacific Perspective, Volume 13, Issue 2 and USIP members became independent MPs.Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Political parties of Asia and the Pacific: Laos–Western Samoa'', Greenwood Press, p1003

References

{{Solomon Islands political parties Defunct political parties in the Solomon Islands Political parties established in 1973 1973 establishments in the Solomon Islands Political parties disestablished in 1975 1975 disestablishments in the Solomon Islands