Solomon Islands Governor-General Refuses To Summon Parliament Despite High Court Order

Thursday, 16 April 2026, 2:43 pm
Article: RNZ

Margot Staunton, RNZ Pacific senior journalist

The Solomon Islands Governor-General is refusing to call parliament amid efforts by a new coalition of political parties to remove the prime minister.

The government has lodged an appeal following a High Court decision by the Chief Justice on Tuesday, ordering Jeremiah Manele to convene parliament within three days to face a motion of no confidence.

Sir Albert Palmer's ruling supported a judicial review claim by the coalition of 28 MPs (in the 50-member house), including government defectors.

He denied attempts by Attorney-General John Muria Jr to have the judicial review struck out.

However, Manele is in Fiji for a one-day Troika meeting in his capacity as the chair of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and will not return until Friday.

Manele's office confirmed that the Attorney-General has officially filed a notice of appeal to the Court of Appeal, and an application for a stay of execution, which will be heard on Thursday afternoon.

A stay of execution would temporarily suspend the enforcement of the judgement, meaning the three-day deadline would be halted.

Governor-General Sir David Tiva Kapu firmly rejected calls from the opposition group to use his residual constitutional powers to summon parliament on Wednesday and notify the Speaker that it would sit on Friday.

Sir David acknowledged that the three days would lapse on Friday and said that while he had the power to summon parliament if the Prime Minister failed to do, he would not.

"I will exercise my powers to convene parliament at the appropriate date and time," Sir David said in a letter to the coalition.

This is the latest development in a political saga that began last month with the mass defection of government ministers to the opposition.

"Now that these filings have been made, we are simply awaiting a response from the Court regarding the stay application. As the matter is now with the Court of Appeal, we are awaiting their direction on the next steps and hearing dates," Manele's office said.

Meanwhile, the opposition group has called out Manele's decision to leave the country during the political impasse.

"The prime minister has departed the country in clear defiance of a court order requiring parliament to be convened within three days. This raises profound constitutional questions regarding compliance with binding judicial directions and the obligations of the executive under our democratic system," the coalition said in a statement.

"Such actions reflect a serious erosion of leadership responsibility and are incompatible with the standards expected of lawful constitutional governance."

"The Constitution must be obeyed. The Court must be respected. Parliament must sit," it said.

Despite their numerical superiority, the group has previously been locked out of parliament by Manele's refusal to call a sitting and face a leadership challenge.

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