Sir Allan Kamekeza won election on Monday as prime minister of the troubled Solomon Islands after being sacked from the previous government over a funds scandal.
In a secret ballot of the newly elected 50-seat Parliament, Kemakeza beat three other contenders, taking 29 votes on the first ballot. Bartholomew Ulufa'alu, who as Prime Minister was ousted by armed rebels last year, took just three votes.
Kemakeza, who heads the Peoples' Alliance Party, also won support from a group known as the Association of Independents after former finance minister Snyder Rini withdrew from the ballot. The Solomons, a former British colony located in the Pacific Ocean northeast of Australia. It went to the polls December 5 in the first general election since armed militia ousted the democratically elected government last year. Two years of factional fighting left 200 dead.
Locals and observers both called the vote a last chance to restore peace and security and to end political corruption.
International observers described the election as free, fair and transparent. More than half the 50 newly elected legislators are first-time lawmakers. Bureau Report