The Shadow Cabinet of Solomon Islands is the

parliamentary Opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

's alternative Cabinet in

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 ...

. Solomon Islands is a

Commonwealth realm A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations whose monarch and head of state is shared among the other realms. Each realm functions as an independent state, equal with the other realms and nations of the Commonwealt ...

with a Westminster system of government; the Shadow Cabinet is modelled on the British institution of the same name. The Opposition is formally known as " Her Majesty's Official Opposition".

Current Shadow Cabinet

The current Shadow Cabinet was appointed by Opposition Leader

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

on 31 August 2010, following the general election on 4 August, and Abana's unsuccessful attempt to be elected to the premiership. It shadows Prime Minister

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 ...

's coalition

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 ...

. Abana's Shadow Cabinet is also a coalition, albeit primarily composed of members 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 ...

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

, initially appointed Shadow Minister for Infrastructure Development, defected to the government in December 2010. On 20 January 2011, citing dissatisfaction with the Cabinet being "manipulated by one or two people",

Bodo Dettke Heinz Horst Bodo Dettke, better known as Bodo Dettke, born 27 February 1967, is a Solomon Islands politician. His political career began when he was elected to Parliament as MP for North West Guadalcanal in the August 2010 general election. He ...

(Minister for Fisheries),

Douglas Ete Douglas Ete (born 4 August 1964) is a Solomon Islands politician. After studying at the University of the South Pacific and at Massey University (New Zealand), he worked as Chief Executive Officer at the National Referral Hospital in Solomon I ...

(Minister for Forestry), Martin Sopage (Minister for Lands and Housing) and Mark Kemakeza (Minister for Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification) all left the government and formally joined Abana's Opposition. It was not immediately made clear what positions they might be given in a Shadow Cabinet reshuffle. In late March 2011, Abana resigned from the leadership of the Opposition, reportedly under pressure from certain members, and

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

was elected by Opposition MPs to replace him. A week later, Abana defected to the government, along with four other members of the Opposition ( Ricky Houeniopwela, Andrew Hanaria Keniasia, Connelly Sandakabatu and Peter Tom). This split reportedly brought the Opposition numbers down to just six, of which Opposition leader Derek Sikua and his deputy

Matthew Wale Matthew Cooper Wale (born 13 June 1968) is a Solomon Islands politician. He is a member of the National Parliament of the Solomon Islands, and was elected to Parliament representing the Aoke/Langalanga constituency on 27 March 2008. Political ...

."Govt builds numbers"
, ''Solomon Star'', 7 April 2011

References

{{reflist, 33em Politics of the Solomon Islands