Solomon Islands prime minister resigns

SYDNEY—The Solomon Islands Prime Minister Danny Philip resigned on Friday after lawmakers deserted his government, plunging the Pacific island nation into political turmoil.

Philip stepped down shortly before a motion of no confidence in him was to be debated in the national legislature, the prime minister’s office said.

“He tendered his resignation as the prime minister of the government,” spokesman Allan Siau told AFP by telephone from Honiara. “He made the declaration on the floor of the parliament.”

A government spokesman said Governor General Frank Kabui had accepted Philip’s resignation and he would continue as caretaker prime minister until a new leader could be elected to govern the country of 550,000 people.

The Solomons has been rocked by ethnic and political violence in the past, with parts of Honiara hit by arson and rioting following a 2006 election.

Philip sacked two cabinet members this week and three others resigned, while seven more MPs had reportedly distanced themselves from the government after the leader was accused of misallocating foreign funds intended for development.

The developments left Philip, who last month attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting opened by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in Australia, without a majority in the parliament.

He is the second Pacific leader to resign in as many days after Nauru President Marcus Stephen quit Thursday amid corruption allegations.

Philip, who was elected in August 2010, was the 14th prime minister of the Solomon Islands since independence from Britain in 1978.

He is a veteran politician who was his country’s foreign minister from 1995 to 1996 and again from July 2000 to June 2001.

In the Solomon Islands, the prime minister is elected in a secret vote by all members of the 50-seat parliament.