Monday 30th August

I’ve mentioned Solomon Island politics occasionally, usually to the detriment of it. We’ve just had an election, that went off without any major trouble, no riots in the streets, houses and shops burnt out, so everyone has been thinking “Wow”

We ended up with 50 MPs elected, 24 of them brand new to politics, which is about normal here. They all meet up in Honiara, and the different factions then camp out in various hotels around Honiara, Heritage, Honiara Hotel, Pacific Casino, until enough wheeling and dealing and promises have been made to give one group 26 MPs. This group then goes to the Governor General, informs him they have sufficient MPs to form a government, he then calls for an election to be held by the MPs for the Prime Ministers Position.

Which we had last week, and Danny Phillips won by a couple of votes. Danny then has the job of allocating various Ministerial portfolios to his group, in return for their commitment to his group. Fine so far. Till one MP who has coveted the Finance Ministers position was refused the portfolio, upon which he has switched sides and joined the opposition, another of Danny Phillips group had a heart attack and died at the victory dinner, so he now has only 24 members, and the opposition group are now calling for Parliament to sit so they can push a vote of no confidence through, and have another election.

At the same time, members of the opposition are also talking of leaving the opposition and joining with Danny, as they think they will get a better deal or position with him than with Steve Abana. For those in the USA, sorry but Chicago has nothing on politics here. At least in Chicago, if you bought someone they usually stayed bought, a bit like Charles Haughey in Ireland. Here? If there is a better offer elsewhere, they’re away.

So it looks like another week or so of dealing till Parliament will be called, and all the usual name calling and innuendo in the newspaper. This is when it could get interesting, as the various faction supporters start to get worked up by the propaganda put out by each group.

Other than that, it’s been a quiet weekend, a bit of rain, a lot of sunshine, I’m not going to mention work or compost heaps.

I’ve mentioned the dogs around the neighbourhood, this is what they are like. They have the most amazing collection of skin diseases, from mange, to what appears to be psoriasis (sp?) and measles, chicken pox, scurvy, rheumy eyes, malnourishment, foot rot, tail droop, and congenital idiocy. I must admit that the dog Adrian rescued from the drain as a pup and has looked after is an absolutely gorgeous dog, but he is fed, trained, and looked after. All the rest here are just strays and feed by scavenging.