Commuters jump over a puddle to board a bus at Point Cruz in the Solomon Islands capital Honiara. 16 April 2024 Photo: RNZ Pacific / Koroi Hawkins
Voters in Solomon Islands are being urged to get in early to cast their ballots on Wednesday as wet weather sets in with concerns it could affect the turnout, especially at polling stations in remote areas.
A 24-hour black out on campaigning is in effect from Tuesday and apart from reports of the odd campaign poster here and there being slow to come down, most election candidates seem to be complying.
In the capital Honiara, it is business as usual in stark contrast to all the campaign commotion on Monday.
Tomorrow is a public holiday with polls to open at 7am local time and close at 4pm.
The country's chief electoral officer Jasper Anisi is encouraging people to get in early and cast their votes so that they can make the most of the midweek break.
"Please voters be prepared taem iu kam lo polling station. It is a long day iu have to kam early mekem iu stap lo line and castim vote blo iu," Anisi said ("Please voters be prepared when you come to the polling station. It's a long day you have to come early and get in line so you can cast your vote.")
As far as the election preparations, Anisi said everything is in order and the country is ready to go the polls.
"All sorted. We thank our donor partners especially New Zealand and Australia for providing support to deploy all election materials back to the polling stations and provincial centres.
"But we pray that the weather is kind to us so that voters don't get wet on the polling day," he said.
However, it is more than just a matter of staying dry.
The Solomon Islands Meteorological service has started issuing strong wind warnings and forecasting rough to moderate sea swells which could have an impact on voter turnout, especially in remote constituencies where people have to travel long distances and sometime make river and island crossings to reach polling stations.
Solomon Islands chief electoral officer Jasper Anisi says all elections materials have been distributed and the country is ready to go to the polls. Photo: RNZ Pacific / Koroi Hawkins
Meanwhile, local police have been running riot drills with their international counterparts.
Over 100 police and military personnel have flown in from Australia and New Zealand to support the country with election logistics and security.
They join some of their own colleagues already here as part of an existing security contingent under the auspices of the Solomon Islands Assistance Force which was activated after the last big riot in 2021 and which includes personnel from Papua New Guinea and Fiji.
The team leader of the Australian National University/Solomon Islands National University Election Observer Group, James Batley, was here for the last election in 2019 and said historically the election day and counting period that follows have always been relatively peaceful.
"Last time we found the election was technically run very professionally. We didn't detect any serious problems with the conduct of the election on the day itself, there was no real violence," Batley said.
It is not until after the official election results are out and the lobbying to form government and elect a prime minister begins that political tensions have historically risen.
This is mainly because of a lack of transparency around the process, which at its most basic level will see the main political groupings setting up camps in various hotels in the capital and trying to entice across members from opposing groups, with promises of senior ministerial portfolios, future political favours and the country's worst kept political secret large amounts of cash.
Even once a dominant group has been determined and a prime ministerial candidate put forward, the election for the top job after the swearing in ceremony for MPs on the floor of Parliament is conducted via a secret ballot, which again presents an opportunity for a last-ditch power grab or even for sabotage.
There are definitely interesting times ahead for Solomon Islands but for now the main concern is the weather.
