The Solomon Islands Wednesday elected Gordon Darcy Lilo as prime minister of the Pacific Island nation, just days after he was sacked as finance minister, a government spokesman said. Lilo, who was chosen by all sitting MPs, replaces Danny Philip who resigned on Friday after lawmakers deserted his government, leaving him without a majority in the 50-seat parliament. "He got 29 (votes)," government spokesman David Tuhanuku said of Lilo. "It was done in a secret ballot within the chamber of parliament," he told AFP via telephone from the capital Honiara.
The Solomon Star newspaper said the vote took more than an hour, with Lilo eventually emerging with Governor-General Sir Frank Kabui, who declared him to have won the leadership. Lilo, who becomes his country's 15th prime minister since the Solomons gained independence from Britain in 1978, is one of two cabinet members Philip unexpectedly sacked last week. That move prompted other MPs to desert Philip's government and forced the change of leader for the nation of some 550,000 people.
Philip was facing allegations of misallocation of funds. The Solomons has previously erupted in violence for political reasons, with parts of Honiara hit by arson and rioting following a 2006 election, but there were no reports of unrest Wednesday. The country is the second Pacific nation to experience political upheaval with Nauru getting its third leader in a week on Tuesday after one quit amid corruption claims and his successor was dumped in a no confidence vote.