DILI, 16 april 2024 (TATOLI) – The Group of Seven Plus (g7+) team, made up of the Secretary General of the g7+, Hélder da Costa, the Head of the Electoral Commission of Papua New Guinea (PNG), Simon Sinai, and the National Director of the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE) of Timor-Leste, Agostinho da Cunha arrived in the Solomon Islands capital, Honiara, to observe the country’s general elections, which will take place on april 17.
After arriving in Honiara, the team met directly with the Head of the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission, Jasper Highwood Anisi, to exchange views and experiences on the elections.
“We are here to directly observe the general elections in the Solomon Islands, as we have done previously in other members of the g7+, including Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Timor-Leste,” Costa told reporters.
Anisi said that wednesday’s general elections would be different from previous elections, as three state bodies would be elected, including Parliament, the Provincial Assembly, and the Honiara Town Council.
“In the past, the three bodies (Parliament, Provincial Assembly, and Honiara City Council) were elected separately, but this year is different as we will elect three bodies in a single election, which we call a joint election,” added Anisi.
He said that the presence of different election observers from different countries, including the g7+ team, would contribute to improving democratic elections in the country.
More than 422,000 voters are expected to take part in the general election, according to the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission.
Fifty members of the Solomon Islands’ unicameral parliament will be elected for four-year terms.
The previous election was held on 3 april 2019 following the amendments to the Electoral Act in 2018.
Journalist: Anito Soares
Editor: Rafael Ximenes de A. Belo
Translation: Filomeno Martins
