Solomon Islands province Premier Daniel Suidani says Australian intervention 'not helpful'

The Solomon Islands' most populous province, the source of anti-government protesters who converged on the capital Honiara last week, is unhappy Australia sent in police and soldiers at the request of the Pacific nation's Prime Minister.

Dozens of buildings were burnt down and shops looted in the capital's Chinatown as protests against Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare turned to rioting in which three people died.

Many of the protesters were from Malaita province, which has a history of disputes with Guadalcanal province where the national government is based and which opposed the switch by Mr Sogavare's government in 2019 to formally recognise China instead of Taiwan.

Malaita's Premier Daniel Suidani has banned Chinese companies from the province and accepted development aid from the United States.

The arrival of 100 Australian police and soldiers on Friday, and a contingent of 50 from Papua New Guinea, to support overwhelmed local police have largely restored calm, but tensions remain high.

"Australia can help but not like this, through an intervention force, it's not helpful," Malaita province Premier Daniel Suidani told the ABC.

"This intervention isn't good because it's keeping a corrupt Prime Minister in power," Mr Suidani said.

"Australia is holding up a corrupt leadership … Australia should not be keeping this guy in power," he added.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said Australia is not "interfering in their democracy" and wanted to provide a stable environment so the people of the Solomon Islands could resolve the situation peacefully.

But Mr Suidani said the involvement of foreign troops would see Mr Sogavare "avoid dealing with all the issue[s] that need to be dealt with".

"Now it means there will be no dialogue, [Mr Sogavare] will just avoid dealing with all the issues that need to be dealt with.

"This is an internal issue that needs to be dealt with rather [than] bring in Australia, PNG and Fiji."

Fiji said on Monday it would send 50 troops on Tuesday.

"Another 120 troops here in Fiji will remain on standby for deployment if needed to help maintain security," Fiji's Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama, said.

Sogavare faces vote of no confidence

Solomon Islands' national parliament resumed on Monday, after four government members resigned at the weekend, including a minister.

A no-confidence motion in Mr Sogavare has been filed in parliament by Opposition Leader Matthew Wale but cannot be debated for seven days.

Another 10 government MPs would have to resign for the motion to succeed.

A spokesman from Mr Sogavare's office told Reuters in an email on Monday he "will not resign under pressure from political opponents that use violence to remove him".

"The Opposition Leader has every right to file a motion of no confidence given the fact he does not have the numbers to succeed," they added.

Mr Sogavare last week blamed interference by unnamed foreign powers for the protests, and in a speech on Sunday said the rioting, which also targeted his residence, caused over $34 million in damages and cost more than 1,000 jobs.

"Arrests are already being made as investigations continue with more arrests to follow. We will not stop until we get all the people who masterminded the lawlessness to face the law," he said.

A night curfew was imposed on Friday.

The violence broke out after protesters from a group called Malaita for Democracy travelled to Honiara and called for Mr Sogavare to address them last Wednesday.

The protest "got out of control" as anger rose and "opportunists" began rioting and outnumbered police, said Celsius Talifilu, a spokesman for Mr Suidani.

More than 100 people have been arrested on suspicion of looting and burning buildings, the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force said on Saturday.

Unclear how long Australian involvement will last

Australia's Minister for the Pacific, Zed Seselja, said it was "far too early to speculate" about any longer term support that Australia might provide to Solomon Islands now that calm had been restored.

The Australian government has stated it expects to provide security support for several weeks.

"We anticipate at this point, that it will be a relatively short-term intervention, but of course we'll be monitoring the situation on the ground," Mr Seselja told Pacific Beat.

"It's only at the request of the Solomon Islands government.

"In terms of the length of the duration and any future role, it's far too early to speculate at this stage. What we've said is we're coming in to restore calm and restore order, we believe it will be a relatively short-term deployment."

ABC/Reuters