Jeremiah Manele, a China-friendly former foreign minister, has been elected as the new Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, succeeding Manasseh Sogavare. Manele's election signals a continuation of the country's policy of growing closer to Beijing.
The election of Jeremiah Manele as Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands marks a significant shift towards maintaining and strengthening the country's relationship with China. Manele's victory is likely to have implications for regional security dynamics and the balance of power in the South Pacific.
The Solomon Islands' political landscape has been shaped by the country's diplomatic relations with China and Taiwan. Manasseh Sogavare's pro-China stance during his tenure as Prime Minister paved the way for closer ties with Beijing, including a security pact. Manele's election follows Sogavare's withdrawal from the contest after failing to secure a majority in the recent elections.
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Manasseh Damukana Sogavare is a Solomon Islands politician serving as the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands since 24 April 2019. He has previously held the role of Prime Minister between 2000 and 2001, between 2006 and 2007, and between 2014 and 2017. Bef
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Solomon Islands is a sovereign state consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania lying to the east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu and covering a land area of 28,400 square kilometres.
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China, officially the People's Republic of China, is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population of around 1.4 billion in 2019.
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The Asia-Pacific or Asia Pacific is the part of the world in or near the Western Pacific Ocean. Asia-Pacific varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania.
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Beijing, alternatively romanized as Peking, is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's most populous capital city, with over 21 million residents within an administrative area of 16,410.5 km².
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Jeremiah Manele was the Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs and External Trade in Solomon Islands until December 2007. He was elected as the Member of Parliament for the Hograno/Kia/Havulei constituency in the 2019 general election.
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The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east.
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Matthew Cooper Wale 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.
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Daniel Suidani is a Solomon Islands politician who served as the Premier of Malaita Province from June 2019 until his ouster in a no confidence vote in February 2023.
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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 160,583 as of 2020, or more than a third of the entire national population.
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Honiara is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. As of 2017, it had a population of 84,520 people.
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Manele is a genre of pop folk music from Romania.
The manele can be divided into "classical manele" and "modern manele". The "classical manele" are a Turkish-derived genre performed by Romani musicians called lăutari in a lăutărească manner, while the