General elections were held in the
Solomon Islands on 19 November 2014.
Independent candidates
An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent.
Some politicians have political views th ...
won 32 of the 50 seats in the National Parliament, with the
Democratic Alliance Party emerging as the largest party with seven seats.
Background
The elections were assisted by the United Nations Development Programme, who wanted to help with "the development of a sustainable, cost effective and inclusive voter registration system to ensure the integrity of the vote." Previous elections in
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
were followed by racial rioting, particularly targeting Chinese immigrants.
Electoral system
The 50 members of the
National Parliament were elected in single-member constituencies using the
first-past-the-post system.
[Electoral system]
IPU
Voters had to be at least 18 years old and hold Solomon Islands citizenship. Overseas residents could not vote, and people were disqualified for voting if they had committed a breach of the electoral law, been declared insane, were imprisoned for more than six months, or were under a death sentence.
[
Candidates had to be at least 21 years old and resident in the constituency in which they ran. Disqualifications included holding dual citizenship, being executives or members of the Electoral Commission, having an undischarged bankruptcy, being imprisoned for more than six months, or being under a death sentence.][
]
Campaign
A total of 443 candidates were nominated to contest the elections, a reduction on the 509 that ran in 2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
.
Conduct
In March 2014 a biometric voter registration system was introduced. Transparency Solomon Islands claimed that it had received anecdotal evidence of some candidates purchasing numerous ID cards. However, in May the Electoral Commission stated that it had not received any formal complaints.
Following the elections, an election official attempted to steal a ballot box as it was taken for counting near Auki. After police started chasing the official, he dropped the box and disappeared into the jungle. The head of the Commonwealth election observers group commended the Solomon Islands for a peaceful election process.
Results
Prime Minister 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 ...
lost his seat in the Gizo-Kolombangara
Kolombangara (sometimes spelled ''Kulambangara'') is an island in the New Georgia Islands group of the nation state of Solomon Islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The name is from a local language, a rough translation of its meaning is ...
constituency, losing to his nephew Jimson Tanangada of the United Democratic Party.Solomon Islands election: caretaker PM Gordon Darcy Lilo concedes he has lost seat
ABC News, 23 November 2014
As nearly two-thirds of the MPs returned are independent and the incumbent Prime Minister lost his seat, negotiations began to form a coalition government and select a new Prime Minister.[Solomon Islands election: Independents win two-thirds of parliamentary seats]
ABC News, 24 November 2014
References
{{Solomon Islands elections
Solomons
Elections in the Solomon Islands
General